Michigan Green Schools Original Points

 

To earn the “Official Michigan Green School” designation, a school “… must participate in 10 energy savings and environmental activities” from the 20 suggested items below:

 

• 1.  The school recycles paper.
• 2.  The school reuses its magazines and newspapers for other projects.
• 3. The school has adopted an endangered species animal from one of several organizations and posted a picture, or information display, of the animal in a main traffic area.
• 4. The school media center updates its print and non-print ecological materials regularly.
• 5. An energy savings program has been instituted at the school.
• 6.  Students at the school participate in a planned program of energy savings,  including dusting coils on cafeteria refrigerators, placing film on windows,   setting hot water heaters one degree lower, seeing how plants and trees  strategically placed can save energy for the school and checking proper  inflation in bus tires and other school vehicles once a month.
• 7. The school has hosted a visit by an ecological spokesperson, an endangered animal species show, or a similar presentation.
• 8. The school has a birdhouse habitat project.
• 9. The school has established a natural Michigan garden project with native   plants.
• 10. The school has solar power presentations or experiments, such as a solar cookout.
• 11. Classes do energy audits of their classrooms and make improvements, such as placing film on windows, caulking windows, or using kits to make windows more energy efficient.
• 12. The school has a printer cartridge recycling program through which the school earns money by selling the cartridges to one or more companies that buy
  cartridges from schools.
• 13. The school recycles cellular telephones and receives money for the phones from recycling companies that work with schools.
• 14. The school observes Earth Day in some way in April.
• 15. Art classes at the school have a poster contest to support ecology concerns and a school-wide display in conjunction with Earth Day activities.
• 16. The school has science class projects in which students do several home energy improvements, such as turn down hot water heaters, install home window insulation kits, clean coils on home refrigerators and install draft guards for doors.
• 17. The school has an ecology club, whose activities include such activities as helping senior citizens make their homes more energy efficient, putting in new furnace filters, caulking windows, cleaning refrigerator coils in homes, and setting water heaters one degree lower.
• 18. The school’s classes visit internet sites where clicking saves rainforest habitat and teachers document the students’ efforts.
• 19.  The school sets a goal of five percent less energy usage in the school and works with local power utilities to see progress toward the goal.
• 20. Participation in an activity not listed above that has received approval, prior to its start, from one of your county coordinators.

 

• Schools must complete 10 of the 20 listed points above to be designated as an official Michigan Green School. 
• It is the intention of the Southeast Michigan Green Schools Initiative that schools re-certify their status each academic year.
• Applications must be submitted by March 1, 2010 to be considered for award.

Click here to print a .pdf of the Green School Original Points