Most teachers hand out a list of supplies needed for class during the first few days of school.  Ask your child’s teacher if you can create a green supply list and hand it out during back-to-school night (on recycled paper of course).  Eco-friendly school supplies can be found in mainstream markets and are priced competitively with similar products.  Staples offers eco-friendly notebooks, composition books, writing pads and sticky notes made from 80 percent sugar cane waste.  They also carry pencils made from recycled tires, crayons made from solar energy, and pens made from recycled plastic.  Just about any item on a traditional list can be found in an affordable, eco-friendly version.  Visit one of the large supply stores near your school, take notes, and share your finds.

Extra Credit: Help teacher set up a website where supply list can be posted as well as all the other traditional handouts.  Getting information online saves paper.

Party Responsibly

Start the year off with a durable party goods drive.  Instead of asking for parents to bring in disposable plates, forks, and napkins for each holiday party, request that each family donate one durable place setting for the teacher to keep with her classroom.  Purchase a large plastic Rubbermaid type bin for storage and let it double as a washtub.  In our classrooms, we assign student helpers to clean the dishes and explain that by doing so they are helping to conserve natural resources.  Allow the teacher to keep the durable goods for the years to come and remind parents and students that they have created a stewardship program that will last for years.

Extra Credit: Teach kids to conserve water and energy while washing dishes.  Fill tub with soapy cold water, scrub each item then turn water on and quickly and rinse.  Do not let water run the entire time and by using cold water you save the energy it would take to heat it.

Take on Trash

One of the least controversial environmental issues in which a parent can engage students is the ubiquitous presence of trash.  In the lower grades at my school we spend much of the year brainstorming on ways we can reduce trash around our campus.  Since we live near the ocean, the trash that is scattered around our school eventually will make its way down the storm drain and harm marine wildlife.  In areas that are not near the ocean, students can learn about how birds mistake small pieces of trash as food and ingest it.  As a classroom volunteer there are a number of opportunities to get kids thinking about this issue.

Suggest that students take a walk around campus with you and supply each child with their own paper bag.  Have students collect some debris around the campus or bring some clean trash from home (bottle caps, granola bar wrappers, juice box straws) and instruct kids to create a self-portrait with the trash.  We provide each kid with an 8×10 piece of cardboard and some glue.  The students see first hand how much trash ends up on the ground and then create something interesting with it.

Extra Credit: Use picked up trash to make a “keep our campus clean” mural and hang it someplace where the whole school can see it.

Trash Patrol

Kindergarteners are the perfect group to encourage good stewardship practices.  They are old enough to understand the harm trash presents to the environment but not too old to feel burdened by a task like keeping the campus clean.  Purchase a supply of latex-free gloves and small trash bags and carve out an hour every week for Kindergarteners to scour the campus for unwanted trash.  Ask your school’s administrator for a visible spot in our library where the results of the weekly cleanups can be posted in pounds.  Kindergarteners will learn about scales and weight measurements while feeling a sense of pride because the results are prominently displayed.

Extra Credit: Report the year-end results to your local paper with a photo of your trash patrol group and celebrate the amount of waste that was not able to harm any wildlife.

Waste Free Class

Challenge students and their parents to see if you can create a waste-free classroom.  Make sure your classroom has several recycling containers.  One for paper waste, one for plastic items and aluminum cans and large box labeled “scratch paper” for students to put all papers used on only one side.  Have students take paper from “scratch” box when doodling or working on less formal projects.  If recycling is done properly, true waste products should be minimal.

Extra Credit: Help students carry the waste-free mantra into the lunchroom.  Offer suggestions to parents on how to pack lunch items in durable containers rather than using paper bags and plastic baggies.

The Quick Facts: By instituting a lunchtime recycling program, schools can take an active role in reducing their waste stream.  Our school cut our lunchtime waste output in half.  With some good planning and some dedicated students, your school can reduce waste on campus, encourage positive environmental stewardship, and save some cash along the way.

If you are looking to green your school, a good first step is to institute a school-wide, lunchtime waste recycling program.  With some good planning and some dedicated students, your school can reduce waste on campus, encourage positive environmental stewardship, and save some cash along the way.

The first step, of course, is to gather interested volunteers.  Try forming a student-run green team to head-up the plan or ask a teacher if they might take on the effort as a class project.

In order to achieve a measurable goal, you need to know what you are dealing with at the start.  The project should be kicked-off with a waste audit.  Students will only be able to build a recycling system if they know the types of trash with which they are dealing.

To perform a waste audit, after a normal lunch period, students should count how many bags of trash were produced.  Then they need to dig into those bags (with latex-free gloves) to see what’s inside of them.  All trash should be separated into five piles: recyclables (i.e., aluminum cans and plastic bottles that can be redeemed at recycling centers for cash, depending on your state), paper items such as brown paper bags or cardboard (like the cardboard box of a “Lunchable”), non-redeemable plastics like yogurt containers, compostable food scraps, and true non-recyclable waste such as plastic baggies and paper napkins.

Once students have a handle on how much and the types of trash they generate, they need to find out what types of recyclables their city accepts.  For instance, in San Diego County, some cities take #5 plastic containers while others do not.  Most likely this will warrant a phone call to the waste hauler with whom your school has contracted.

Once the team understands the types of waste that can be properly recycled, they need to create bins and informational signs for each.  The bins and signs should be placed in a central location in the lunch area next to the traditional waste receptacles.  All trash and recycle bins should be kept in one area so that students begin to develop a consistent waste routine in the lunchroom.  For example, a stand-alone trash can near the exit may tempt a student to toss a recyclable in the trash because a recycle bin is not nearby.

As part of their efforts, students should determine if they would prefer the waste hauler to pick-up redeemable recyclables or if the students would rather collect and turn-in the plastic bottles and aluminum cans for cash value (again, depending on your state).  Many schools keep these monies to pay for other green programs.

For schools just embarking on green efforts, food composting may prove too ambitious to include on a first attempt at revamping your lunchtime waste program.  Once students are acclimated to separating their lunchtime trash, adding in this new component is easy.  To successfully implement food composting, the school will need either a compost heap or worm-composting bin to process the food scraps, along with bins to collect the food waste and signs to inform students.

With a working lunchtime plan in place, the team leading the effort will need to teach their fellow students how to use the new bins.  A school assembly announcing the plan or a student-made movie played as a commercial in each classroom are great ways to inform their classmates.  The team can also create a catchy slogan and work it into campaign posters to hang in the cafeteria and other visible areas around campus (perhaps involving art classes as well).

After working through some kinks and following the plan for a few months, conduct a final waste audit that measures the amount of real trash that has accumulated in the non-recyclable waste bin.  If the reduction is considerable enough, your principal may be able to scale back on the cost of waste removal.  In our school district, we were able to cancel one day a week of trash pick-up.

Report your success to the student body, along with the total amount of money earned by collecting redeemables.  The team can call or write their local newspaper(s) or television station(s) to seek media coverage to inform their community.

For tools and more detailed information about how to plan a waste reduction program visit the following websites: http://www.epa.gov/osw/partnerships/wastewise/plan-program.htm

http://www.epa.gov/osw/education/pdfs/resource.pdf

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States has seen a decrease in the number of physically active children, while the number of children who are deemed overweight has increased.  A brisk walk to school increases blood circulation and the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain.  So, in addition to adding regular physical activity, which has proven health benefits, walk-to-school students arrive at school more alert and ready to learn.

While the learning and health benefits are reasons enough to institute a walk-to-school program, the benefits to the environment are equally attractive.  Many schools have a designated “drop-off” or “pick-up” zone in front of the entrance.  Harmful emissions from idling cars find their way into the air and the lungs of school children as they exit and enter their campus.  This harmful cloud contains an emissions cocktail of nitrogen oxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds.  If these pollutants sound familiar, they should.  They are the smog-causing greenhouse gases that wreak havoc in our environment.  Less cars passing through the drop-off zone translates to healthier air quality around the school campus.

The families who have joined us in our walk-to-school program look forward to Wednesday as a chance to socialize with friends and catch-up on the latest school news.  One of our neighborhood team captains has also organized a mom’s running club.  Directly after the start of school she plans a run through our local streets that eventually leads back to our houses.  I have even heard one parent use our acronym as a verb, as in, “Are we WOW-ing tomorrow?”

If you would like to encourage walking at your school, here are some hints to help get you started:

• Select several routes to school from each neighborhood and plan key pick-up points on each route.  Make certain the route is safe by ensuring that it is lined with sidewalk in good repair and that there are safe crossing areas, if necessary.
• Find a few volunteers from nearby neighborhoods to serve as team captain.  They will be responsible for organizing those who share the same route to school.
• Have team captains notify each family on the route with a central meeting place and departure time.  In our neighborhood we meet at a central corner at 7:30am, which allows us exactly half an hour to get to school.  Those who live closer to school on our route know that we’ll pass their house at approximately the same time each walking day and can join-in as we walk by.  Building-in a time cushion will help if you have a few lollygaggers.
• Make certain that there is plenty of parent supervision if walking with young children or if major intersection(s) must be crossed.
• To promote the program, have kids hang signs around campus explaining the benefits of walking or place a paragraph in your school’s newsletter.

For more information about starting a walk-to-school program at your school visit the following websites:

(http://www.walktoschool.org/faq/index.cfm, International Walk to School Day — in the USA)

(http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/kidswalk/, Center for Disease Control and Prevention website, “Kids Walk to School.”)

(http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=2229, Environmental Defense Fund website, an environmental organization.)

The Quick Facts: Whether it’s an at-home project or a lesson plan for the classroom, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has provided us with a teachable moment that cannot be passed-up. With real time streaming video available of the actual leak and a host of easy-to-replicate science experiments, the devastation in the Gulf may be the catalyst needed to raise a generation with an awareness of the realities that accompany our fuel consumption habits.

Unfortunately when the students at the school where I volunteer return from summer break, our country will still be struggling to contain the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico.  The efforts to clean up the massive amount of crude oil in the water, on the beach, and now in the surrounding wetlands, no doubt, will be in full force.  And, while this disastrous spill is potentially scary for young children, the learning opportunity for older kids is undeniable.  If there is any upside to this environmental tragedy, it will certainly be that our children will enter adulthood better educated about the potential harms of our reliance on fossil fuels. (See also Real Mama’s article, “Reduce Your Family’s Oil Consumption“)

Our goal as environmental educators is to open our children’s minds to all sides of current ecological issues, teach science principles, and encourage responsible stewardship practices. Overall, we want students to understand the need for natural resource conservation and to instill a sense of hope that will inspire a generation of problem solvers.

Here are some classroom lessons that help teach about oil spills and cleanup efforts:

Oil Seepage is a Natural Part of our Earth

The crude oil located far beneath the rocky ocean floor seeps into the ocean naturally.  Some estimates put this natural seepage at over 60 million gallons every year.  While informing students of this natural process, it is important to note that this seepage is widespread and slow; bubbling through the rock layers over time.  Contrast this natural process with the violent explosion on the Deep Water Horizon off the coast of Louisiana.  In less than two months, nearly double that amount gushed into a very localized area in the Gulf of Mexico.  With this information students can ponder one of many controversial points surrounding this massive oil spill.  Can our Earth naturally process the crude oil leaking into the Gulf from this latest oil spill?

Create an Oil Spill and Simulate a Cleanup

With a shallow pan, cocoa powder, blue food coloring and vegetable oil, you can simulate an oil spill in the classroom.  Fill a pie tin or other shallow pan halfway full with blue colored water to represent the ocean.  Make a mixture of cocoa powder and vegetable oil to represent the crude oil.  Pour the oil mixture into the “ocean” and have students record the results.  Create different weather scenarios by blowing on the pan or mixing the oil up with a fork.

After students have marked down their spill observations, have them brainstorm on the fastest and most effective way to cleanup the “oil spill” using the following items: cotton balls, medicine droppers, cotton swabs, and dish soap.  Have students record the cleaning process selected.  Set a timer and record how long it takes to clean up the spill.

Effects of Oil on Animals and Birds

The Internet is filled with images of birds covered with brown oil, but students can learn first hand how bird feathers change in character when soaked with oil.  Provide each student with a feather and have them wet it with water.  Students should record their observations (e.g., the feather repels the water).  Next, guide the students to dip their feathers in vegetable oil and record any differences (the oily feather should be heavier and no longer able to repel water). Have students discuss what might happen to a bird whose feathers are completely covered in oil.  Pass around dish soap and ask if students are able to get the feather clean.

Human Activity Pollutes More Than Oil Spills

Probably the biggest lesson that can be learned in teaching about oil pollution is the role we each play.  Petroleum is not just used to make gasoline.  It is prevalent in thousands of other products we use everyday from water bottles to lipstick to crayons.  The more we consume products that contain petroleum, the less chance we have that offshore drilling will slow down.  Have students discuss how our consumption habits play a role in the oil spill disaster.

Finally, inform students that 363 million gallons of oil enter the ocean every year from industrial waste and automobiles.  According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), about half of all the oil that enters Earth’s oceans comes from human activity.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that half of U.S car owners change their own oil but only a third of these people dispose of the oil properly.  Students should list the changes they can make to help reduce that amount of oil entering the waters at the hands of human activity.

Information used in this article was found at the following sources, which you can visit if you want to find out more about this topic:

(http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/everydaylife/SeaWiFs_Oil.html, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration)