Suggest some ways to make the school campus clean, green and energy-efficient.?

Question

Please make suggestions as cheap as possible, but I'm open to anything.

Answer 1

Start with the cafeteria:

-Buy local, and buy less meat. I know there are USDA programs subsidizing school lunches of milk, meat and corn, but all three of these are extremely unhealthy and environmentally unfriendly. Vegetables, particularly local veggies, are extremely cheap and will have a major impact on the health of your students. They have an added bonus of being way greener than meat (particularly red meat). See: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/...

-Buy organic. It sounds expensive, but contracts with local farmers [especially in California] are on par with non-organic vegetables. Pesticides and fertilizers are wreaking havoc on the environment. See: http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafe...

-Another student health tip: only put water in the cafeteria. It's cheaper and healthier than almost any drink. Bottled water, though, is very environmentally unfriendly and no better for you than tap water. See: http://frostfirezoo.com/files/u1/bottled...

-Don't use disposable dishware, but if you must, buy biodegradable (spudware or corn starch) utensils and plates. See: http://www.vegware.com/

-Start a compost bin, and make sure students use it. Practically all food and paper products can be composted, and if you use biodegradable utensils they can be composted too. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composting

Other things:

-Charge [a lot] for printing. When things are free, people get very wasteful. Put teachers on lax printing quotas so that they won't go overboard... I know teachers have it rough, so don't make them too strict, just enough to discourage waste.

-Don't buy new textbooks every five years just because they're available. There aren't enough jumps in high school level calculus every five years to warrant a new textbook.

-Don't give in to student demands for more parking spaces. The fewer kids driving to school, the better. Enlarging the faculty lot at the expense of the student lot might be unpopular, but there's no reason 2000 students should all be driving themselves to school separately. Encourage carpools, public transit, and biking in the fall and spring.

-Probably most importantly, have interactive events where students can learn about the environmental consequences of their actions. Most of their footprint probably occurs outside of school, so whatever they can take home with them the better.

Answer 2

Recycling containers in every building and around campus.

For plastic, paper and cans.

The florescent light bulbs in every light socket.

Required recycling.

Answer 3

Have the school administration buy campus vehicles that run on natural gas (methane). It's 99% cleaner than gasoline cars, and a lot cheaper to fill up. Some universities already have done this, so it's not such a radical idea. I drive 2 cars that run on natural gas, and they're great! Think BIG!