www.sustainablesandhills.org

SAMPLE PROJECTS

AWARENESS & EDUCATION
  • Water Resources Conference
  • Change a Light, Change the World
  • NCSU Renewable Energy 4-Day Course
  • Vermiculture Workshop
  • Biodiesel & Ethanol Awareness
 
LOCAL FOOD & CULTURE
  • National Heritage Area Designation
  • Regional Trailways Initiative
  • Cultural Resources Inventory
 
GREEN BUSINESS
  • Cumberland County Certification Program

 

GREEN LIVING & DESIGN
  • High Performance Schools Symposium
  • System Vision Affordable Housing
  • Green Building & Solar Tour

 

GREEN GROWTH
  • Suitability Maps
  • Vision to Action
  • Randall Arendt Conservation Based Development

 

RECYCLING
  • Recycling Task Force
  • Special Event Recycling
  • Commercial Recycling - Pay as you Throw
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Green Schools Program

earth day projectGreenSchoolsProgram

Roots of the pROGRAM

The Sustainable Sandhills Green Schools Program grew out of an effort by Sustainable Sandhills in 2008 to certify K-12 schools in our Green Business Program.  We recognized early in that effort that the K-12 school sector deserved a program of its own. 

In the Spring of 2009, Sustainable Sandhills partnered with the Cumberland County School (CCS) district to develop the "Go Green Initiative" for the 2009-10 school year.  The CCS Board of Education adopted a resolution endorsing the "Go Green Initiative" in the summer of 2009, and the program was piloted in 2009-10 in 22 schools in the CCS district. 

The program was such a success that Sustainable Sandhills decided to seek funding in the Spring of 2010 to expand the program to all eight counties in our region during the 2010-11 school year.

We're happy to announce that on July 2, 2010, Sustainable Sandhills was awarded a Student Energy Internship Program (SEIP) grant from the NC Energy Office to fund a group of recently graduated NC College and University Interns to implement our expanded Green Schools program in 2010-11!  link to press release 

We recruited nine interns who have been working the program since October 2010.  We reached out to every district in the region for engagement in the SS Green Schools Program.  While the SEIP grant award will fund a significant portion of the program, we continue to seek funding to support the program from grants, private donors and corporate sponsors. 

What is the Green Schools Program?

The Green Schools Program teaches earth-friendly behaviors and assists schools in realizing cost savings from energy and water conservation and reductions in solid waste disposal.  The Program is a partnership involving students, teachers, administrators, custodians and parents that is aligned with existing math, science, English and art curricula. Through hands-on activities like recycling, composting, reducing vehicle idling time, planting school gardens, and tracking energy and water usage, the Program encourages and rewards environmentally-responsible behaviors that will last a lifetime.

          

 

The Green Schools Program Checklist

Green Schools Program Checklists are developed with each participating district to complement their facilities, staff and existing programs.  There are typically a set of required and optional measures in five categories:

 

  • Awareness and education
  • Energy conservation and efficiency
  • Water conservation and efficiency
  • Pollution prevention
  • Waste reduction and recycling

 

For an example of the Cumberland County Schools checklist - see link to CCS checklist. 

When a single school has satisfied all the requirements of their checklist, they become a Certified Green School in their District's Green School Program.  Each district may choose to recognize the Green Teams from these Certified schools at Board meetings and somehow reward the students and faculty for their accomplishment. 

Sustainable Sandhills' Green School Interns are focusing their attention on the energy and water conservation measures at each participating school, since these are the measures that result in the most cost savings.  The Cumberland County Schools spend approximately $10,000,000 annually on utilities, and Kathy Miller, CCS Director of Operations, estimates that 5% annual savings - $500,000 - is easily attainable by simple enforcement of energy and water conservation measures district-wide!

Integrating Sustainability Into K-12 Curriculum

Sustainable Sandhills hosted a talented Senior Capstone Project Team from UNC-Chapel Hill's Institute for the Environment in the Spring of 2009.  The Team created a number of materials that have been incorporated into the Sustainable Sandhills' Green Schools Program.  A valuable addition to the program is a series of Teaching Aids to Integrate Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship into the K-12 curriculum.  The Capstone Team created a set of documents in Art, English, Math and Science for Elementary, Middle and High School teachers to use as a resource. 

 

 

More than 125,000 students are expected to attend K-12 schools in our eight-county Sandhills region in 2010-11!  Just imagine the impact that "army" of students can have on their communities if they take these lessons and their conservation habits home and change their families' and friends' behaviors!

          

 

How Will We Measure and Track Results?

Sustainable Sandhills utilizes Portfolio Manager, a free USEPA interactive energy management tool that allows for tracking and assessing energy and water consumption in a secure online environment.  Portfolio Manager is flexible and designed to work with any number of building types.  Of course we will utilize the K-12 module of Portfolio Manager, which allows us to:

 

  • Track multiple energy and water meters for each facility
  • Benchmark facilities relative to their past performance
  • View percent improvement in weather-normalized "source energy"
  • Monitor energy and water costs
  • Share building data with others
  • Enter different operating characteristics for each distinct space in a typical K-12 facility

 

How Can You Get Involved?

Please be in touch with Sustainable Sandhills' Executive Director Jon Parsons - via email or call 910-484-9098! 

Key early steps for schools or districts that want to implement the Sustainable Sandhills' Green Schools Program are:

 

  • Recruit a Green Team that includes Parent, Student, Teacher, Administrative and Custodial representatives.
  • Look back at least 12 months at your energy and water consumption so you can track how well you're doing in your new green efforts.
  • Define a set of achievable objectives - success breeds success!
  • Be in touch with us as soon as possible so we can help you succeed!

 

 
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