Greener by the Block

From the Garden to the Roof, Schools Find Ways to Help the Environment

There are plenty of things you can do to help the environment. A great place to start is at school. Across the region, students and school officials are tackling projects big and small to help our planet. KidsPost's Margaret Webb Pressler highlights some of their efforts.

Green Buildings

More and more schools are being designed and used in ways that are friendly to the environment. These so-called green schools use less energy, cost less to run and are good for students.

The newly renovated Sidwell Friends Middle School in the District has been awarded the highest rating by the U.S. Green Building Council for having a positive impact on the environment -- a rare honor. Soon the school will treat and re-use its wastewater, saving hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per year.

The recycled water from sinks and toilets, which can't be used for drinking, will be colored blue, "so we know it's recycled, just in case it gets into the water fountains -- not that it would," joked Emily Bernstein, 14, a Sidwell student and building tour guide. Water fountains will still use fresh city water.

Sidwell students are studying the building itself in science classes to help them learn first-hand the positive impact of green buildings. It's affecting how they view the world around them. "If you see a [building] being torn down, you think, 'They're going to fill up a whole landfill with that,' " said Matthew Malone, 13.

In Prince George's County, Suitland Elementary has been so succcessful that another green school is being planned, in Laurel, for the 2008-09 school year.

At Suitland, a garden courtyard collects and uses rainwater; the roof is angled away from the sun to keep it cool; and skylights and tall windows let in lots of natural light.

"You don't have to switch on the light switch all the time," said Rupert McCave, the county official guiding these projects.

Green schools tend to be sunnier and more inviting than older buildings. In fact, a study done in Washington state showed that students at green schools performed better and were absent less.

Green Actions

Kathy Molina, a sixth-grade science teacher at H-B Woodlawn in Arlington, teaches students about the environment. This year they taught her a thing or two.

Every year, Molina takes her kids to a nearby stream to monitor the environment and water quality. Then she encourages students to do a community activity for extra credit. "This one just happened to be the real deal this year," she said.

Ibby Han, 12, was bothered by the trash in the stream, especially the old cellphones the kids found. She did some research and learned that when electronic items such as phones, TVs and computers get thrown in landfills, chemicals seep into the ground and nearby water. "A lot of people don't know how to recycle electronics," she said.

Ibby and her classmates organized an electronics recycling drive in March for the school community. The kids collected 433 items in one day and gave them to the county for proper disposal. "I was so very much impressed that sixth-graders could take on solving such a big problem," Molina said.

The class won an award from Staples, and the office products chain asked the kids to help it organize an electronics recycling event of its own. County officials are now looking at ways to make it easier for residents to safely get rid of old electronics.

It was rewarding for the kids, but it wasn't easy.

"We all worked really hard, and it came together," Ibby said. "But I was pretty relieved that it was over."