Club Green

Now that you are a settled in back at school, it's a great time to start an environmental club at your school, place of worship, or in your community. Running a club can take a lot of work though, so make sure to get some help first.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Meet with the principal or leader of your group to discuss your club with them. Let this person know that you have already taken action in your own life to go green and why you think it is important for your school or group to have an environmental club.
2. Get a sponsor or a mentor. A teacher or other adult can help you with some of the responsibilities involved in running a club and speak on your behalf.
3. Recruit members. Spread the word by making announcements, putting up posters, and handing out flyers and inviting classmates to join. Be sure to include a phone number or email address for them to contact you.
4. -Set up an introductory meeting to decide how your club will be run. Discuss what you would like to accomplish. To keep your group focused, pick one goal that you can all work toward accomplishing. Create a task sheet to delegate responsibilities to all members.

Here are a few ideas for projects and activities your club can take on:

–Set up a recycling system in the school cafeteria.
-–Organize an after-school toy swap.
–Plant a small organic garden that will provide fresh vegetables for the school cafeteria.
–Support local wildlife and reduce CO2 in the air by planting trees, shrubs and flowers on school grounds.
–Have a garage sale and give proceeds to you favorite environmental organization or a local pet shelter.
–Organize trips to the local zoo.
–Organize special events like a “Kids Walk to School Day” or “Create No Trash Day”.
–Make posters to educate others about what they can do to leave a greener footprint.

Robert Kennedy on the "qualities of youth"

"Our answer is the world's hope; it is to rely on youth. The cruelties and the obstacles of this swiftly changing planet will not yield to obsolete dogmas and outworn slogans. It cannot be moved by those who cling to a present which is already dying, who prefer the illusion of security to the excitement and danger which comes with even the most peaceful progress. This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease."

- Robert F. Kennedy

Understanding Global Warming

I came across this great interview with Professor Michael Oppenheimer on the website Videojug.com. Professor Oppenheimer is a Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs at Princeton University. He clearly explains global warming and greenhouse gases and explains how humans are causing them.



VideoJug: Ozone And Greenhouse Gases