Green Guide

The Eco-Friendly School
STORY BY AMY HAGEDORN & SARAH LANSDALE

Is one of your schools colors green? It should be. Many Long Island schools are making efforts to bring environmentally healthy practices into their districts, from switching to eco-friendly cleaners and eliminating pesticides to boosting their energy efficiency efforts.

Networking® magazine has learned there are many reasons that indicate adding sustainable, green initiatives is the right thing to do. Green schools benefit the environment because they use less energy, less water, and non-toxic materials. The benefit to students’ health is clear: The chemicals found in traditional cleaning supplies and the exhaust that’s released into the air from idling buses are proven to contribute to asthma and other respiratory problems. Cleaner, greener schools have even been shown to increase student performance. School districts benefit economically too, since they spend huge portions of their budgets to light, heat, and cool school buildings. Adding energy efficient systems and renewable energy sources will save districts money for decades to come—money that can be used for educational needs that benefit all students, especially those from lower income districts that typically lack adequate resources in their schools.

The bottom line: Green schools create a healthier learning environment and a healthier planet. They help preserve natural resources. They teach kids to think and live in sustainable ways. And they will ultimately save school districts hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Carle Place schools made an environmentally and financially smart move this year when they were the first L.I. district to install a photovoltaic (PV) solar system through LIPA’s Solar Pioneer Program. The school received nearly $200,000 in rebates, offsetting a portion of the initial cost of the system. The district will not only lower their energy bill by more than $10,000 per year, they’ll protect the environment by reducing harmful fossil fuel emissions, which contribute to global warming.

Also, the school has used the installation as an educational tool, adding the study of solar power to its fifth-grade curriculum. Talk about a win-win!

The Malverne Union Free School District has made numerous eco-friendly moves, including the installation of solar panels, replacement of energy-hogging boilers, and upgrading lighting systems.

Island Drafting, a technical school in Amityville, will save $10,000 a year in its two buildings simply by installing energy efficient bulbs and adding a system that automatically controls light usage. The project will pay for itself in a very short time, according to Steven Miller, program manager for Conservation Services Group (CSG), a nationwide non-profit that worked with the school. CSG, which is under contract with LIPA to help small businesses and homeowners implement energy efficiency strategies, conducts free energy audits under LIPA’s Clean Energy Initiative. To find out how you can take advantage of the program, contact LIPA (www.lipower.org/cei, 800-692-2626 or CSG (www.csgrp.com, 631-590-5700).

Hewlett High School is taking advantage of LIPA’s Clean Energy Initiative program by installing a geothermal energy system to heat and cool its building. The system will enable the high school to reduce its electric consumption by 30 to 60 percent, paying for itself in two to five years. It’s the largest geothermal project on Long Island, and one of the biggest for a school anywhere in the country.

Another important way to create green schools involves eliminating the toxic chemicals in cleaning products and adopting safer, cleaner alternatives. All New York schools are already required to be implementing green cleaning practices as a result of a September 2006 law requiring “environmentally sensitive cleaning and maintenance products” in schools and state agencies. And some L.I. schools have been using safe cleaning products well before the law was enacted, including Port Washington, Locust Valley, Great Neck, Baldwin, William Floyd, and Jericho. But the law doesn’t go far enough, according to Patti Wood, Executive Director of Grassroots Environmental Education in Port Washington.

“The law requires products be Green Seal certified, but there’s no legal definition of a green product,” says Wood. “They based the standard on older models that apply to adults working in factories. That’s a very different environment from a school, with kindergarten kids playing on floors and putting things in their mouths.”

Grassroots Environmental Education has identified three major areas that, if corrected, will reduce 90% of the harmful toxins children are exposed to in schools: Safe cleaning products; the elimination of pesticide use; and the adoption of a “no-idling” policy for buses, trucks and other vehicles entering their school grounds. Port Washington was the first school district in the state to adopt the no-idling policy. “Diesel fuel not only contributes to global warming, but it’s linked to asthma and cancer,” says Wood. “It’s a very simple step a school can take to make a big difference.”

Grassroots Environmental Education tackles the issue of pesticides with its “Grassroots Healthy Lawn Program,” designed to promote natural, organic lawn care. “More than a hundred scientific studies link 2,4-D, a commonly used pesticide, to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma,” says Wood. Neighborhood Network, another non-profit group profiled in this issue (see page TK), also offers programs on natural lawn care, including The Toxic-Free Schools Project. The program encourages parents to demand changes in school pest control policies and helps schools implement natural pest control plans.

Wood also warns against the use of synthetic fields in schools, which some districts have seen as an alternative to pesticides. “They use tons of rubber pieces that are too toxic to be allowed even in landfills,” she says.

Another way to help in the greening of your school is to join or start a healthy food campaign. The Ross School in East Hampton has been on the cutting edge of this movement, creating healthy meals that utilize locally grown foods. That not only translates into healthier kids, but also decreases pollution by cutting truck mileage.

If you want to be sure that your school district to get onboard the greening of L.I. schools, it’s important that you make your voice be heard. Attend school board and PTA meetings, call your principal or superintendent, and arm yourself with information (see sidebar, “Teaching Educators about Green Schools”).

There are so many ways we can teach our children well. Demand green practices in your schools, and model them at home. Take inspiration from Juliane Saary-Littman, a Port Washington mom who joined forces with seven other concerned parents from John Philip Sousa Elementary school to spread the green word throughout their school and community. Last year, the group organized a local “Step It Up” Rally against global warming and conducted an Earth Week sale offering canvas bags, compact fluorescent light bulbs and other environmentally friendly products.

“If we don’t address environmental issues, we put our children at risk,” says Saary-Littman. “We have to take good care of the planet we love—for the children we love!”

Amy Hagedorn, president of the board, and Sarah Lansdale, executive director, head up the team at Sustainable Long Island (www.sustainableli.org), a non-profit organization that focuses on facilitating real change in our region by promoting the concepts and practices of sustainable development. Sustainable Long Island specializes in a community-based planning process in which residents, municipal leaders, businesspeople and all interested stakeholders come together to plan and implement sustainable development initiatives in their communities.

NEXT | INDEX