Green Tips
Here are some great ideas that go beyond the 20 Points. In fact, we encourage you to keep going, don't stop at just 20 – there's no end to the things your school can do to go green! We welcome your ideas to share with other schools. Just email us and we'll consider posting them here.
Did you know your school spends approximately $310.00 for every vending machine you have? If you take the simple step of turning the lights off you save $110.00 per vending machine and you cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. You can use this toward one of the twenty points for your application under the energy saving points.
Create a Green School bulletin board on what your school is doing to protect the Michigan and world environment. Washtenaw County Schools sent a photo of a bulletin board by Allen Elementary in Ann Arbor.
Sign up at TerraCycle and get paid for recycling! Your school can collect items like juice pouches, cookie bags and yogurt containers – then send them in and receive two cents per unit. All you have to do is register and mail them in.
Students can start a campaign to limit the use of plastic water bottles. Art classes can create awareness posters. Students can do a fund-raising event to raise money to have long-lasting sports bottles produced with their school and Michigan Green Schools logos to distribute to families.
Michigan touches four of the five Great Lakes, providing the perfect opportunity for schools to raise awareness for the Great Lakes. The school can have a study unit on environmental health and issues facing the Great Lakes or participate in one of the many programs to help maintain the quality of the Great Lakes.
Students can hold a letter-writing campaign to local officials about an environmental issue such as suggesting a compact fluorescent bulb law or fuel emissions improvements. These are valuable exercises to promote critical thinking on ways to help the environment and then taking political action to make a difference in this world.
The school raises $100 towards a Land & Tree Fund for all participating Green Schools. Each year, land or trees will be purchased and donated to a state park or state forest in Michigan. Participating schools will vote on this year’s designee. In the photo, Wayne and Crawford county kids joined forces to plant red maple trees at Hartwick Pines State Park in May 2008. Michigan Green Schools raised over $1,000 last year to plant the trees.
Classes can visit Nature Centers or Zoos to learn more about wild animals. Contact these organizations for special programs for school groups, including visiting behind-the-scenes and overnight camps. They can also be a great resource for adopting an animal for your school. Two such sources are the Howell Nature Center and the Leslie Science Center in Ann Arbor.
Raise awareness of the federally endangered Karner Blue butterfly by printing out this 8.5"x11" coloring sheet for children to color. Read more about the Karner Blue in the Michigan Wildlife Awareness sidebar on our About Us page, with more ideas for activities.
