British Schools Must Go Green
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 05.22.06
A couple of weeks ago, we reported on a handful of Iowa schools that have built wind turbines to help provide electricity and to educate students on the benefits of renewable energy. Looks like the Brits are taking this combination of sustainability and education one step further with a mandate that all of Great Britain's schools be carbon neutral by 2020. The effort will start this summer with a government consultation that will look at "the physical impact of buildings and how they can be altered to improve pupil performance and behaviour." The British plan over the course of the next 14 years, though, to thoroughly change not only the schools' environments, but also the human activity that occurs around campus:
The government says that by 2020 it wants all schools to be "models of energy efficiency and renewable energy" and provide "healthy, local and sustainable food and drink produced or prepared on site".They must have "strong commitments to the environment, social responsibility and animal welfare".
[Education Secretary Alan] Johnson said: "Young people are keenly aware of, and highly motivated by, environmental issues.
"In many ways they are ahead of adults in their attitudes to recycling and conservation.
"Channelling this enthusiasm helps raise achievement and improve behaviour and could save money as well as addressing big issues such as climate change - it really is a win-win solution."
The Education ministry even plans to encourage children to walk or bike to school. A long-range, comprehensive plan like this should help not only lighten the footprint of British schools, but also produce better educated, and healthier students. :: BBC News
California is another state that has been leading the way in green schools in the US. Here's a couple of CA links...The Collaborative for High Performance Schools and The Division of the State Architect - Sustainable Schools
This is great news. Teach them when they are young and willing and idealistic, and they will change the world for the better. Too bad the demographics in the developed world are now so lopsided with many more old people than young in the coming decades. I wonder if we could resend people back to these 'green' schools :)
See also our recent related post on the UK's first green school, in Liverpool.