"Change will not come if we wait for some person, or if we wait for some other time...
We are the ones we've been waiting for.
We are the change we seek." - Pres. Barack Obama
Hi all,
Welcome back from an awesome holiday weekend!
Don't forget to plug in all those electronics, printers, ipad charging stations, pencil sharpeners, mini-fridges, and coffee pots that you remembered to unplug last week...
Oh wait, you left everything plugged in?
No worries.
You can take the lead at your school right now. Today!
Just remember to power down and turn things off when you're not using them.
It's as simple as that.
With an annual district-wide utility cost of $8.2 million dollars, every dollar we spend on utility service providers is another dollar less than what we have to impact student achievement.
Not to mention, schools that are participating in the Green Star Schools Program get the opportunity to earn cash incentives for their efforts. Twenty-percent (20%) of the total energy cost reduction will be divvied up and shared among those school groups that demonstrate a sustained reduction in energy use during this semester AND
And the time is almost up! Two more weeks to go to reduce energy use and head out for Winter Break. So, please consider turning appliances, electronics, and other gadgets off or in sleep mode when not using them. It really adds up, as in more than $500,000 in cost savings!
Why did the chicken cross the road?
It did, however, manage to make it onto my grandmother's fine china last Thursday right next to the mashed potatoes and that green bean casseroley thing!
Anyway, back to chickens...
How cool would it be to have chickens at your school?!!
It's not as impossible as you think.
While our students and teachers were getting an early start to their holiday break last week, I took a trip down south to visit with our neighbors at Douglas County School District to meet with some teachers and staff to learn more about their Sustainability and Wellness programs at their schools.
Great news! Courtney Kuntz, Sustainability Coordinator at DCSD shared with me the district's Chicken Program Manual, which is available in the Green Stars Schools Google Drive.
(We, in the sustainability world call this, "stealing with integrity.")
So with a little innovation and some community support, chickens could call your school home this Spring!
Chickens are a man's best friend.
Not only are chickens a safe and cheap substitute for expensive and harmful pesticides. They are a great example of integrated pest management.
They also eat just about everything.
The students at Sedalia Elementary in Douglas County sort their food waste in the cafeteria, not just by trash, but in more than six ways. Food scraps go to feed the chickens, thus cutting down on costs for feed and reducing the amount of waste going to the landfill.
