Do you have “America’s Greenest School”? (Giveaway!)

I never truly thought about it before, but one way that my family is even just a little bit greener is that our kids ride the bus to school.  Not only is it more convenient for us (saves on gas money and time), but it keeps our car off of the road for those extra two trips a day.  In fact, every school bus takes approximately 36 cars off of the road!

Now here’s a way to help improve the environmental impact of schools even more – from now until April 30th, students can visit www.AmericasGreenest School.com, where they can not only learn how to help make their school more environmentally friendly, but they can also submit a 500-word essay (describing what makes their school ‘green’) for the chance to win a plug-in hybrid school bus for their school from IC Bus, plus a $5,000 scholarship. Sponsoring teachers may receive $3,000 to use toward educational materials.

Each essay should:

• Describe how the school shows its commitment to going green;
• Explain how the school teaches its students the value of green living;
• List how the school shows its dedication to green transportation; or
• Show how the school embodies the spirit of a greener planet.

Kids need to be at least 13 years old to enter, and entries can be submitted through April 30th at 11:59 pm EST. Starting on May 11th, the public will be able to vote for one of the top ten finalists (as chosen by a group of qualified judges). The essay which receives the most votes will win.

“This program can help students, teachers and parents learn that they do have the power to make greener choices that will positively affect the environment,” said Terra Wellington, author of the new book “The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green: Saving the Earth Begins at Home” and one of the essay contest judges. “Making America’s schools greener is a winning lesson plan for everyone.”

In her new book, The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green: Saving the Earth Begins at Home, author and wellness/lifestyle expert Terra Wellington dedicates an entire chapter to the topic of creating a Green School Action Blueprint, pointing out that kids spend “more than half of their waking hours at school”. A ‘greener’ school includes many things – such as “saving energy, better lunch choices, eco-friendly waste collection, non-toxic cleaning, earth friendly paper use, better transportation options, a well-managed landscape, access to outdoors, and more”.

Here are some practical tips directly from Terra:

For Parents:

PICK A PASSION: I have found that picking what you feel passionate about gives you the energy and interest needed to get results.

• Go Organic At School – Use organic food for your child’s lunch whenever possible. Easy and widely available ideas include organic fruits, drinks, peanut butter, jelly, and carrot sticks.
• Choose Environmentally Friendly Transportation – Use the school bus rather than drive your child to school. One school bus trip to school in the morning can take an average of 36 cars off of the road, eliminating the need for additional gas use, traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. Plus, today’s school buses use “Green Diesel Technology” which also significantly reduces emissions.
• Reduce Waste – Pack your child’s lunch in reusable containers. This is more environmentally friendly than using a disposable paper bag and plastic baggies each school day.

BE READY TO VOLUNTEER: Most schools are short on staffing and budget. So if you can volunteer a bit of time, change and improvements can happen faster.

• Save Energy Today – Volunteer a couple of hours to adjust computers at school to go to a blank screen or standby mode instead of a screensaver.
• Introduce Children to Plants – Hook up your local nursery with your child’s classroom for a special guest speaker on plants.
• Help Improve Lighting – Offer to help replace standard light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs where possible and/or take out unneeded lights in vending machines to save electricity.

WORK WITH LIKE-MINDED PARENTS AND TEACHERS: Look into the parent organization for your child’s school and find other moms, dads, and teachers who can share with you in getting results.

• Build Sponsor Contacts – A 30-minute meeting among 10 parents can generate a long list of possible sponsors for greener school programs.
• Promote Recycling – In one hour a group of parents can hand-create several dozen “Recycle Now” posters for a school campaign.

LOOK FOR WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY: There are many built-in “moments” at school that you can easily turn green. Look for them and act.

• Fundraise Green – Sell reusable bags to raise money.
• Donate Recycled – Purchase 100% recycled paper for any school donations or supplies.
• Speak Up – At a school district meeting, encourage more schoolyard asphalt to be replaced with grass, plants, and trees.
• Get Into Composting – Work with a science teacher to start up an at-school composting program.

For Students:

GET INVOLVED: Today’s students are the most eco-conscious generation in history. While many environmentally friendly actions have become daily habit for many students, there are some specific things that can be done to help schools become greener.

• Ask For Sunshine – Ask the teacher to use the room’s natural light in the classroom so that overhead lights can be turned off. It makes for a healthier school day and also saves electricity.
• Turn Off The Lights – When the classroom is empty, make sure lights are turned off and computers are in standby mode. A standby setting can reduce power over 90 percent, helping to conserve energy.
• Bring Nature Indoors – Ask the teacher if the class can have a “class plant” that students can take turns watering.
• Be Proud To Ride The School Bus – Help the environment and clean up your air by using mass transit. This keeps additional cars off the road to help avoid traffic jams, save gas, and cut down on greenhouse gases. The American School Bus Council estimates that each diesel school bus takes 36 cars off the road, which significantly reduces fuel use, emissions and traffic congestion. In fact, 3.1 billion gallons of fuel are saved annually by students who ride school buses instead of riding in cars.
• Use Both Sides Of The Paper – Use both sides of a piece of paper to reduce waste and paper consumption. Ask your teacher if you can print reports and other homework assignments “double-sided” to save paper.
• Recycle At School – Use recycling bins for paper, cans and bottles. If your school has recycling bins, be sure to place waste in the proper container and encourage others to do so. If your school doesn’t have recycling bins, work with your parents, teacher or principal to get some.

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a webinar/conference call with Terra*, and also received a copy of her extremely useful book, which I am giving away to a lucky reader! So if you’d like to win a copy of The Mom’s Guide to Growing Your Family Green: Saving the Earth Begins at Homeby Terra Wellington, here are the rules:

1. Enter by leaving a comment here to let me know one thing your child’s school is doing to be ‘greener’ or which you think they could be doing.  If your children aren’t in school yet (or are out of school), let me know something you’re doing at home to become ‘greener’ there. Please don’t just say ‘choose me’, or your entry will be discarded.
2. The contest will run until Friday, April 17th at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected through random drawing, contacted by e-mail, listed on this post and also submitted to PRIZEY.Fetch. US entries only, please.
3. Please leave a valid e-mail address or other way to contact you! If you don’t wish to leave your e-mail address, please make sure that you leave a unique name and check back with PRIZEYWinners to see if you won. If the winner hasn’t responded within 3 days, an alternate winner will be chosen by random drawing.
4. If you’d like extra entries, you can:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed (click on the orange icon in the upper right sidebar) or subscribe via e-mail – leave me a separate comment to let me know.
• Mention this contest on your blog with a link back to this post, and leave a separate comment with the link to your post so I can find it.
• Either Twitter about, ‘Stumble’, ‘Digg’ or ‘Kirtsy’ this post – leave me a separate comment with your username at whichever site(s) you chose (one extra entry per method).

So that’s a total of 7 comments/entries if you do all of the extra entry options.

Good luck! 

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED – the random number  generator has chosen comment #8 as the winner:

Congratulations to meredith rogen, whose extra entry via Twitter has won for her! I will be e-mailing you shortly to work out the details.

*Thank you to Ketchum PR for the opportunity to participate!