Can schoolkids do what world leaders in Copenhagen failed to do last month: lower greenhouse gas emissions in the face of climate change? You may have already seen how some students challenged leaders in Denmark with patches from the climate quilt; now, the Green Schools Alliance (a sponsor of the quilt) has persuaded 128 schools in 22 states to take direct action against global warming by participating in the Green Cup Challenge.
The GSA describes the challenge as “the first and only student-driven interschool energy challenge” which “invites all schools to measure and reduce electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions, and supports greening efforts including recycling and water conservation.” Now in its fourth year, the Challenge can brag of creating measurable results: last year’s participating schools “reduced their aggregate carbon emissions by 2.5 million pounds: the equivalent of taking 220 cars off the road for one year.” While that won’t reverse global warming on its own, it also gave kids at 120 schools multiple lessons about the actions all of us can take to reduce carbon emissions.
The Challenge itself measures data provided by schools; the means by which students reduce energy use is up to them. For New York’s PS 166/The Richard Rodgers School of Arts and Technology (one of four schools in the NYC area participating), plans include having students make signs to remind everyone on campus to turn off lights and power down computers. Two “climate captains” in each class will make sure these things happen. And a “green team” of fifth graders will do weekly school-wide evaluations.
PS 166 is shooting for a 10% energy reduction during the competition period of January 15 – February 12. If successful, they will not only reduce the school’s climate impact, but also lower its power bill (which can run as high as $26,000/month).
Kids learn best by doing, and the hands-on approach of the Green Cup Challenge should be a great way to get students of all ages thinking about energy conservation. Know of a school in your area that’s participating (or has participated)? Tell us about them, and their plans for the Challenge.
January 22nd, 2010 - 10:45 am
The nation-wide Green Cup Challenge begins this Monday and we now have over 200 schools participating. Pace Academy in Atlanta, GA has pledged to donate the money saved on their utility bills during the Challenge to disaster relief in Haiti. They have invited other schools in the Challenge to join them in helping the children of Haiti. Princeton Day School in Princeton, NJ is offering a Green Cup Challenge – Home Edition, wherein students can track their electricity consumption at home and work with their families to make reductions. One of the most powerful aspects of the Green Cup Challenge is its ripple effect. Thanks for the great article!
January 25th, 2010 - 1:13 pm
Thanks for the update, Katy!
January 26th, 2010 - 4:41 am
This is a very inspiring blog. I salute everyone who have the initiative to take part in saving our planet. I, for one, would like to start caring for our environment. Everyone is talking about minimizing our carbon footprints in relation to climate change. We could minimize this by conserving our daily energy consumption. Windows tints are one of the most useful thing when it comes in saving energy. Free information about window tints are generously available at http://www.TintBuyer.com. Window tint will enable us to minimize the use of our air-conditioners and heaters which is way economical and eco-friendly.