Lynchburg Business

Going Green in Education

Issue: February 2010 by Daniel T. Richardson in Education, Inside The Magazine

“Going Green” seems to be a major buzzword nowadays. You hear it on the news, in commercials and in advertising.  But what does it really mean and can “Going Green” be an integral part of today’s educational environment? When it comes to schools across Virginia, it appears the answer is “yes.”

Among the many definitions for the word “green,” Webster’s Dictionary says that it can mean: a. relating to or being an environmentalist political movement, b. concerned with or supporting environmentalism, c. tending to preserve environmental quality (as by being recyclable, biodegradable or nonpolluting). Going Green means a conscious effort to reduce the negative environmental impact of your actions.

So, how does this relate to local schools? Enter the Virginia Municipal League. This state-wide, non-profit organization, which began in 1905 to assist and improve local governments, has established a Go Green Virginia campaign that focuses on communities taking steps to reduce consumption and to initiate policies that promote sustainability. The campaign, which began during the 2008-2009 academic year and will continue through the remainder of this school year, has both a local government and a local school component. The local school component works in conjunction with the Virginia School Board Association (VSBA) and is called the Green School’s Challenge.

The Green School’s Challenge is composed of 12 specific areas with 30 action items and, according to its verbiage on www.gogreenva.org, “is designed to encourage implementation of specific environmental policies and practical actions that reduce the carbon emissions generated by both the local school division and the broader community.”

These 12 areas are:

• the adoption by the school division of an official green policy
• energy efficiency
• green building construction or renewal
• waste management
• fuel efficient vehicles
• indoor environmental air quality
• employee incentives
• education and community participation
• school related policies (including walking/bicycling to school programs, environmental clubs, programs connecting students to farms and produce)
• student involvement
• cooperation between school division and local government
• innovation efforts that go above and beyond the expectations of the challenge

School divisions can earn up to 200 “green points” for implementation of policies which meet the 12 goals and 30 action items. Earning at least 100 green points garners the school division the title of “Green School Division.” There are also awards given out at the VSBA Annual Conference to the top three school divisions in the three population brackets (less than 5,000; 5,001 to 10,000; and 10,000-plus).

During the annual VSBA conference held November 18-20, 2009, Lynchburg City Schools was awarded the top honor for a school division of its size. According to the press release, this was accomplished as staff and students committed to conserving as much energy as possible.

“During the year they flipped switches, recycled and even let teachers go home early (but after school, of course) if they were ‘caught’ saving electricity. As a result, the division as a whole saved 1.8 million kilowatt hours compared to the school year before. Those savings resulted in the equivalent of $144,000 in electricity savings, $17,000 in natural gas savings and $8,000 in water savings.”

Although the increased energy costs of the 2008-2009 school year prevented less money from being spent on energy, the school system would have been in much worse shape had the energy saving policies not been in place. In addition, this school year was able to begin with these energy saving procedures in place.

In other areas of the state, cities and counties are also working hard to Go Green. Charlottesville has plans to create a team to coordinate implementing an energy saving plan and Charlottesville City Schools won second place for school divisions under 5,000. Some of their environmentally-friendly items include utilizing rain barrels and creating school educational gardens. The City of Roanoke has switched some of its school bus fleet to low sulfur and ultra-low sulfur diesel.

Frederick County Schools has implemented several conservation related procedures including reminding staff to keep doors closed, turn lights off when not in use, request timely repairs to leaking water fixtures, and eliminate unnecessary HVAC usage and using EcoSoft toilet tissue made from 100% recycled paper. In addition, Appomattox County Schools has implemented a recycling program. In the first month of its efforts, the county recycled one ton of cardboard and one half ton of white paper. Currently, Appomattox is looking for local grants to fund the recycling program.

What things can a school system do to go green?  Here are some ideas from ezinearticles.com:

*  Make sure that all renovations or new construction meet green building standards such as LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) which is administered by the U.S. Green Building Council.

*  Utilize compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).

*  Reduce paper usage.

*  Reuse and recycle paper, metal, plastic, and glass products.

*  Rethink transportation programs by utilizing fuel efficient vehicles and encouraging students to walk or bike to school together.

*  Grow school gardens and encourage education in sustainable environments.

*  Conserve energy by turning off lights when they are not needed and cutting off unused electronics.

*  When possible, utilize bio-degradable eating utensils.

*  Educate environmentally conscious students.

So what does Going Green have to do with education?  Aristotle said, “All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.”  It makes little sense for us to train our children to make the same mistakes we have made. It is far better to teach them the better ways we have learned because of our mistakes. Doesn’t it make sense that we need to train them to act in a way which advocates positive advances in our society with the most minimal, negative environmental impact as possible?

We are preparing our children not for living today, but for leading tomorrow. So, congratulations to Lynchburg City Schools and all of those other school districts across Virginia for advocating responsibility in their students through the implementation of environmentally-sound policies.