Center Street Elementary School featured their Grades of Green waste reduction activities on El Segundo TV! The segment highlighted the school’s waste reduction efforts through Grades of Green Activities such as Trash Free Lunches and Campus Composting. Center Street Elementary School also implements other Grades of Green Activities such as No Idle Zones, In-Class Recycling, and much more. Learn more about Center Street Elementary School’s efforts to go green and get ready to be inspired by watching the video clip here!
Did you know that idling a car for one minute releases the same amount of toxic chemicals into the atmosphere as three packs of cigarettes? Grades of Green Youth Corps Eco-Leadership student, Penn C., teamed up with his friends to promote No Idle Zones at his school, Grandview Elementary. Penn recruited students to join his team, and the group spread the word about the importance of not idling car engines in school pick-up and drop-off areas. Penn created educational signs, and walked around the two pick-up and drop-off areas at the end of the school day to encourage people to turn of their engines. If students walked or rode their bike to school, they were rewarded with a pencil made from recycled materials. Great work Penn! Interested in implementing Grades of Green’s No Idle Zone Activity at your school? Click here for all of the resources you need to get this activity up and running!
Grades of Green is excited to host its first ever webinar on Facebook Live about improving air quality through establishing a No Idle Zone! Schools across the country are invited to join us on February 22nd as we explain the dangers of toxic car emissions and how students, parents, teachers and volunteers can take action to spread awareness about air pollution and improve their school environment. The Webinar is a great way to help schools implement Grades of Green’s No Idle Zone Activity, with step-by-step instructions to encourage drivers to turn off car engines as they wait at school drop-off and pick-up areas. According to Hamilton County Environmental Services and Air Watch Northwest, 3 pounds of pollution per month is put into the air for just one vehicle drop-off and pick-up at a school. Reducing idling on school campuses greatly reduces emissions, which also shrinks the school’s carbon footprint and helps clear the air our children breathe. Through the interactive webinar, participants will be able to post comments in real time on Facebook and ask Grades of Green experts questions as we go, creating a dialogue that will give everyone the tools that they need to jumpstart the Activity. We are excited to offer the first 20 schools that join the webinar and take on the No Idle Zone Activity a FREE banner that students can display in front of their schools to remind drivers to turn off their engines
Grades of Green Youth Corps students and brother tag-team Ismail B. and Umar B. kicked off No Idle Zones at Woodbury Elementary school to educate drivers about the importance of turning off car engines in school pick-up lines. Inspired by the passing of ACR 160, Umar and Ismail were excited to introduce Grades of Green’s No Idle Zone Activity to their school community as there are three parking lots on campus that are filled with cars at the end of each school day. The duo started by explaining their idea to the principal, and after receiving his support, they provided each teacher with information on the impact of idling on our planet. From there, Umar and Ismail created educational posters and flyers, and hosted a two day campaign at school to educate their community about the impact of idling in the school parking lots. The Activity has been a huge success; congratulations Umar and Ismail! Interested in implementing No Idle Zones at your school? Grades of Green is excited to host our first webinar, which will focus on the No Idle Zones Grades of Green Activity. All educators, students and volunteers are welcome to tune in! The webinar will take place on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017 at 3:15pm. To join the webinar, check out our Facebook page as we will be broadcasting from Facebook Live! The first 20 schools that join the webinar and take on our No Idle Zone Activity here will receive a FREE No Idle Zone banner to display proudly at your school.
Grades of Green Youth Corps students are spreading the word about ACR 160, and were able to give a presentation at the 2016 Green California Schools Summit to inspire others to join the movement! ACR 160 is a statewide resolution in California encouraging No Idle Zones at all school campuses. Pioneered by Grades of Green student Antonio, No Idle Zones has become a sweeping movement across California schools. On November 2nd, Youth Corps student leaders Maxine and Elise joined Grades of Green in hosting a presentation about the meaning of ACR 160, and how schools and educators can utilize Grades of Green’s No Idle Zone Activity to get the program up and running at their school. The session included best practices from Grades of Green schools who have implemented No Idle Zones, information on the history of ACR 160, and student made videos to show how fun and easy it is to create better air quality. Are you interested in promoting No Idle Zones at your school? Check out our No Idle Zones Activity for all of the resources you need, including flyers, artwork, and more! Grades of Green also has a No Idle Zones Communications Tool Kit to make the Activity super simple. Check it out here!