2007-2008 Initiatives
Our natural environment, the one thing we ultimately depend on daily, is changing all over the globe. From habitat destruction to pollution to climate change, humans are transforming their world at an unprecedented rate. Change has reached such proportions that environmental action must go beyond “saving pandas and whales” to become a vital part of our everyday decision-making if we are to leave our children a livable world. “We don’t inherit the world from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children” (Native American proverb).
Facing this challenge, many people are overwhelmed by the many ways they can make a difference: where to start? Here, at the French-American School and the International High School, we have decided to start by taking a serious look at how we contribute to climate change with our carbon emissions. It turns out there are three main areas our emissions come from, three main areas where we can start improving our practices: our energy-use, our transportation, and our waste production.
With our long-term goal of becoming a carbon-neutral institution in mind, the Green Task Force has decided to prioritize initiatives in these three areas. We encourage every school community member to volunteer for these initiatives, to offer their suggestions, and to regularly visit this page as new action items will regularly be added. Most importantly, we hope that the seeds of awareness and action sown here, at school, will sprout into similar changes within your home.
ENERGY-USE - Let's make our energy renewable and its use efficient!
INSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVES |
DEADLINE |
STATUS |
AUDIT: calculate school-wide carbon footprint based on energy-use, transportation, and waste. |
January 31st |
DONE: See report |
AUDIT: PG&E to conduct a comprehensive energy audit of our buildings |
Early Nov. |
DONE : See report |
EVENT : Focus the Nation is a national event that will be held school-wide. It will be a day dedicated to awareness and action towards climate-change solutions. |
Jan. 31st |
DONE: See webpages |
Contact-persons for more information
STUDENT INITIATIVES |
DEADLINE |
STATUS |
SOLAR: Grant application for a HS student-driven pilot project to install photo-voltaic panels on the roof. |
Sept 07 |
DONE : granted |
SOLAR: HS students researching solar-panel providers |
Spring 08 |
In progress |
TRANSPORTATION - Let’s walk, ride, and transit!
INSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVES |
DEADLINE |
STATUS |
AUDIT: calculate school-wide carbon footprint based on energy-use, transportation, and waste. |
January 31st |
DONE: See report |
AUDIT : school-wide survey of families’ transportation habits and preferences. |
Spring 08. |
IN-PROGRESS |
CAR-POOLING : Develop a map of school-community members to facilitate carpooling |
Not set |
|
BIKING : add 12 bike racks in front of the school’s main entrance |
Nov. 15th |
DONE:Installation pending |
WALK-TO-SCHOOL DAY: first Wednesday of each month is a “green commute day” school-wide. |
Since Oct. |
ON-GOING |
Contact-persons for more information
STUDENT INITIATIVES |
DEADLINE |
STATUS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WASTE MANAGEMENT – Let’s reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost!
INSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVES |
DEADLINE |
STATUS |
AUDIT: calculate school-wide carbon footprint based on energy-use, transportation, and waste. |
January 31st |
DONE: See report |
RECYCLING : school-wide recycling bins over-haul with the help of Sfenvironment. |
Sept. |
DONE |
RECYCLING : training provided by SFenvironment in LS |
Mid Oct |
DONE |
RECYCLING : training provided by SFenvironment in MS |
Mid Oct |
DONE |
RECYCLING : training provided by SFenvironment in HS |
Nov. 19th |
UP-COMING |
COMPOSTING : feasibility research |
Nov. 28th |
DONE: See report |
COMPOSTING : implementing school-wide composting |
Mid-April |
UP-COMING |
RECORK AMERICA : collecting bins in LS, MS, and HS for bottle corks (to be recycled into flooring, etc.) |
Nov. 15th |
DONE |
E-WASTE: all E-Waste generated by the campus should be properly disposed of following federal and municipal guidelines. If you have E-waste, contact NCIS. |
Since 2006 |
ON-GOING |
PAPER: 30% recycled-content copy paper is being tested campus-wide. |
Mid Nov. |
ON-GOING |
Contact-persons for more information
STUDENT INITIATIVES |
DEADLINE |
STATUS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OTHER INITIATIVES
INSTITUTIONAL INITIATIVES |
DEADLINE |
STATUS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Contact-persons for more information
STUDENT INITIATIVES |
DEADLINE |
STATUS |
RESEARCH: 12th grade IB Science research project (group 4) will measure different environmental variables around the school. |
|
UP-COMING |
SCIENCE FAIR: all MS science fair projects for this year will revolve around the theme of “GREEN” |
Jan 31st. |
DONE |
ARTS: HS and MS students in the “Film & video class” will create video projects around the theme of “GREEN” |
Jan 31st. |
DONE |
|
 |
