<p>so here's my problem: i am the leader of an environmental club at my school that was started at the end of last year, and we've accomplished quite a lot in that short time. we got compost bins built, we got matinence to mow the huge lawn less often, and we're getting many more recycling bins around campus so it is easier for people to recycle, rather than just throw bottles and things like that in the trash out of laziness. we're also trying to do some sort of student-awareness thing. </p>
<p>but we're running out of ideas! we had one meeting this year, and there was an awful lot of dead silence. as the leader, it's kind of up to me to keep the conversation going, but i couldn't think of anything to say. i tried asking if anyone has any ideas or things like that for this school year, and somebody mentioned bamboo shirts, and the conversation just died.</p>
<p>we meet for 30 minutes each week. i could really use any ideas about how to make my campus a more environmentally-friendly place. anything! i know that some of you couldn't care less about the world around you, but for my sake, please help.</p>
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You can raise money and adopt an animal from the zoo, so basically you guys are raising money to its taken care of and such...
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<p>thanks for the suggestion, but how does that help the environment? i don't see the connection between supporting an animal in a * zoo * and the environment. i'm not beating down your idea or anything, i'd just like you to clarify it.</p>
<p>any more suggestions anybody? i'd really appreciate it!</p>
<p>Take the recycled cans and bottles to a recycling center(one of the ones where you get like 5 cents a can/bottle) and then the money you guys make, give it to a some kind of environmental charity....</p>
<p>solar panels is one of those out-of-the picture things, because my school is so incredibly small and that would be too big of a project.</p>
<p>as for the recycling thing, i think everything's all taken care of as far as disposing of the cans goes.</p>
<p>we'll probably do some fundraising soon (we'll bake food i guess), anybody have any ideas of which environmental cause we should donate the money to? there are so many out there that it's hard to choose and figure out which one really makes an impact.</p>
<p>Yay for environmental club! Here's a few things that our club did last year that weren't already mentioned:</p>
<ul>
<li>Declare the week after Earth Day "Earth Week" for awareness. Make flyers, do announcements about envrionmental facts, sell bracelets made out of hemp to raise money, etc.</li>
<li>Try to get CFLs in your school.</li>
<li>See if your school administration will let you start a small garden on school property. A couple of people could volunteer to take care of it once in a while. Especially effective if you grow tomatoes or something, which you can sell in the cafeteria. :D</li>
</ul>
<p>Last year our school's environmental club held an event called "Trash on the Lawn Day". They took all of the previous day's trash and spread it out on the front lawn. Then they had students go through with gloves and pull out all the recyclables. It's a good way of illustrating how many things people chuck in the trash that really shouldn't be there.</p>
<p>I definitely second the garden, and the "riding to school" idea - maybe you could set up a ride board so it's easier for students to carpool when they can't bike or take the bus.</p>
<p>i like that Earth Day idea, and hopefully we'll do something like it. the only problem is that Earth Day isn't until April, and we need something to do between now and then. as for the CFLs, i believe our school already has flourescent lights in most of our buildings. i'll double check that though. i know our school does have a garden, but i'm not sure if anyone is actually using it (it used to be a llama pen until the llamas died, so they turned it into a garden). i'll definitely look into that.</p>
<p>no, my school does not use styrofoam lunch trays. i go to a small private school (about 180 students). it is very non-public-school-like. we use ceramic dishes and silverware and glasses. the only disposable thing we use at lunch is paper napkins (which are really thick, so i guess we should look into buying different ones).</p>
<p>as for transportation, my school is pretty good about that. about 1/3 of the school boards (boarding and day school), so they don't use any transportation to school other than walking. a heck of a lot of faculty also live in houses on campus, so they don't drive to school. most of the day students take buses, and most of the ones that don't have buses carpool (the ones who live over an hour away; parents don't want to drive them that far every day). some of the seniors drive to school every day, but i don't think we could get them to take the bus or carpool because the only reason they are driving is because it makes them feel more adult-like and grown-up (;)). i don't think we'd be able to get them to take the bus like they did when they were underclassmen. but it's only about 15 seniors that drive every day, so it's not too big of an impact.</p>
<p>i'm sorry if it seems like i am beating down most of your ideas. i really am thankful. i guess my school is pretty environmental to begin with.</p>
<p>i still need more ideas though. as i mentioned, my school is also a boarding school, so if you can think of ways to decrease the boarding students' footprint, that would be great!</p>