- National Green Week
-
William Search Green Week
National Green Week is a campaign that occurs during the first week in February every year in the United States, to teach school children about the three "R"s of the enviornment: recycling, reusing, and reducing waste. The campaign also teaches children other ways to advocate for the environment.[1]
“By participating in National Green Week, students will learn that simple decisions such as the selection of waste-free snacks and drinks can combat monumental environmental problems,” says Victoria Waters, President and Founder, Green Education Foundation. “Children are in the best position to impact the future of our environment by developing green behaviors that become lifelong habits,” adds Waters.
National Green Week was conceived based on the results of the Fisher Green School Experiment [1] WALPOLE, MA — June 2008 — the first ever GEF “Green School Experiment” at a special event at the Fisher Elementary School in North Walpole, Mass. The educational program was introduced to students and faculty on June 3, 2008 and challenged them to adopt simple “green” habits to reduce their classroom waste by 50 percent.
Using their new IXG Green Packs — reusable water bottle, drink thermos, snack containers, organic cotton tee shirt, reusable shopping bag, bottle brush cleaner and instructional insert — Fisher Elementary students had the opportunity to experience firsthand how much of an impact these simple habits can have. In fact, their efforts far surpassed the Experiment’s goal, reducing classroom waste by an astounding 70 percent. Combined overall school waste was reduced by an equally impressive 53 percent. An additional pilot was run in December 2008, at Weymouth Seach Elementary School in Weymouth Massachusetts.[2][3]
National Green Week 2009, the Green Education Foundation's enlisted 2000 schools and nearly a half a million students nationwide. Over 250,000 participated in the "Waste-Free Snacks challenge, effectively eliminating over 100,000 lbs of trash[4] including 1 million students which, according to WCVB TV, would reduce trash going to landfills by 2 million pounds for the very first National Green Week.[2] By the end of the 2009 National Green Week, a total of more than 500,000 children in 900 schools across 48 states participated to reduce waste and promote sustainability.[2][5]
Contents
National Green Week Pilot Schools
The Fisher Green School Experiment
Students at Fisher Elementary School in Walpole Massachusetts conducted a trash experiment. For two weeks they collected and weighed their trash, including juice boxes and snack wrappers. The school collected 450 lbs. of trash a day. Then they received a "Green Pack", which was itself a reusable shopping bag, and included a water bottle and reusable snack containers. They were able to reduce their trash by 70% using these "Green Packs"[6] Teacher Lisa Grasso's third grade class in particular recorded less than an ounce of trash in 2 weeks.[6]
The William Seach Green Week
Like the students at Fisher Elementary, students at William Search Elementary in Weymouth Massachusetts weighed their trash. The school of 370 students collected 25 lbs. of trash a day. After receiving green packs, they reduced their trash by 86% to 3.4 lbs. of trash a day.[2] Town employees were also encouraged to reduce waste by Weymouth Mayor Sue Kay. "That brings the parents into it. They kind of get into it with creating the lunches. And if we show our employees that the children are participating, then why can't we do it also?"[2]
Bibliography
- ^ a b .Green Education Foundation (2008). "National Green Week Press Release". http://www.nationalgreenweek.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=91. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
- ^ a b c d e .WCVBTV (2008). "Students ‘Trash Talk’ Helps Environment". http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/18297956/index.html. Retrieved 2009-01-01.
- ^ Weymouth Patriot Ledger (2008). "Weymouth students have a distaste for waste". http://www.patriotledger.com/news/education/x420258041/Weymouth-students-have-a-distaste-for-waste. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ converge (2008). "Going Green All Week: Students Pitch In to Help Environment". http://www.convergemag.com/story.php?catid=420&storyid=108136. Retrieved 2009-01-01.[dead link]
- ^ .Wicked Local Framingham (2009). "Taking control of their environment". http://www.wickedlocal.com/framingham/archive/x494341209/Taking-control-of-their-environment. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
- ^ a b .WCVBTV (2008). "Elementary School Works to Reduce Trash". http://www.thebostonchannel.com/multimedia/m/20249580/elementary_school_works_to_reduce_trash.htm?q=going+green. Retrieved 2008-11-17.[dead link]
External links
Categories:- Thematic weeks
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