Students Take The Lead To Reduce School’s Environmental Footprint

After completing the Community Adventure Program, the Cottonwood Institute’s core program, six extraordinary New Vista High School students realized that they wanted to continue making a difference in the world even though their class had ended.

With their enthusiasm and persistence to change the world, they went above and beyond the call of duty to form a school club called the Earth Task Force. The primary goal of this student-directed club is to inspire students and their school to reduce their environmental footprint through engaging activities and events throughout the year.

The group came together this past August to come up with a game plan reduce their school’s environmental footprint. They teamed up with Ghita Carroll, Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) Sustainability Coordinator, and decided to organize a professional Energy Audit paid by BVSD. After analyzing the results, students decided to focus on 3 primary areas:

•    Infrastructure: including energy and water.
•    Waste: including recycling and composting.
•    Transportation: to promote the use of alternative transportation to and from school since New Vista does not use school buses.

Listen to what the Earth Task Force had to say on KGNU 88.5FM on the Dot Org Show with Nikki Kayser by Clicking Here.

According to one Earth Task Force member, “as students in the modern world, we have taken it upon ourselves to act towards our vision of a just and sustainable world. We have dedicated many hours to plan events to raise awareness about environmental issues, and to make our vision a reality.”

Their hard work has paid off and the Earth Task Force is producing tangible results:

•    They launched a website to promote their activities, events, and initiatives: http://www.earthtaskforce.com/
•    They applied for a grant from The Earth Day Network and have since been approved to install a small solar system at New Vista High School.
•    Boulder Valley School District has agreed to sponsor the Earth Task Force at New Vista High School to be the first pilot “Green Team” and hopes to sponsor similar sustainability initiatives at other district schools.

To launch their efforts in 2010, they are planning 5 consecutive days of activities from January 25-29th, 2010 to help the school reduce their environmental footprint:

•    On Monday, January 25th, 2010 they will host show clips from three movies, including: 11th Hour, Climate Change In Colorado, and Human Footprint to help raise awareness of the environmental issues they plan to address this year.
•    On Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 they will host an “Energy Day” where they will announce energy saving tips and encourage students and teachers to take their “Green Pledge.” They will also host a “Lights Out Lunch” where they will encourage the whole school to turn off lights during lunch.
•    On Thursday, January 28th, 2010 they will launch a “bring your own mug coffee day” initiative to help reduce the number of paper and plastic cups that are thrown away every day.
•    On Friday, January 29th, 2010 the are very proud to host an “Eat Local Day” supported by The Kitchen to share the environmental benefits of eating local.

This week of events in January will help launch another series of events for the following three months. In February the Earth Task Force will tackle water and energy consumption, in March they will address waste issues and recycling efforts, and in April they will promote alternative transportation. The students will document how their efforts have helped lower the school’s environmental footprint by comparing the school’s environmental metrics with the corresponding month for the previous year. If they reach the goals they set for themselves the Boulder Valley School District will reward the group monetarily to help fund further sustainability efforts at their school.

Conserving Water Creatively

“When you drink the water, remember the spring” ~Chinese Proverb

• How much water do you use everyday?
• Where does your water come from?
• How long could you survive without water?

The second quarter CAP class chose “water” as their environmental issue. Students got excited about this issue after reading the New York Time article “The Future is Drying Up” by Joe Gertner. The article addresses water rights in the West and the imminent water shortage that Coloradans face if we continue to use water at our current rate of consumption.

After some initial conversations, much research, and feelings of being overwhelmed by such a big issue, students came up with the following problem statement:

In North America, the average American uses 600 liters of water a day, while the average African uses 6. In reality, humans need to use about 50 liters per day. Over consumption of water does not just mean taking long showers, leaving the tap running while you brush your teeth, or watering the lawn. One of our biggest consumers of water is industrial agriculture. To make one cotton T-shirt it takes 9oz of cotton. To make that t-shirt from that cotton it takes 25 bathtubs full of water. In homes, businesses, and industrial agriculture, our water is being polluted and unnecessarily used. As a result of the high demand for water we are putting our scarce supply of fresh water, and ourselves, at risk.

The students did a lot of research to be sure they were well-informed about water issues. The class met with the Keep It Clean Partnership, and took a tour of Boulder’s waste water treatment plant. They also read many articles from water experts. Students researched the sources of their own water and mapped their watersheds.

After much deliberation students decided to address this problem through an educational campaign at their school. The class divided into four groups:

• The art group created educational posters and a collaborative mural using provocative art
• A second group created educational pamphlets
• A third created a movie about water in arid Colorado
• And to tie it all together the class wrote and performed a skit for the whole school.

The students aim to have their mural displayed in the City of Boulder’s water office. They distributed their pamphlets after their presentation to the whole school. The movie, an animated film which shows what the future might look like if we don’t change our habits was a hit, with one teacher exclaiming, “That was one of the best CAP presentations I’ve ever seen.”

The students worked hard to create a fantastic educational campaign and their water posters remain posted around the school on bathroom doors, above water fountains, and over sinks.

Well Done CAP!

Conserving Water Creatively

“When you drink the water, remember the spring” ~Chinese Proverb

• How much water do you use everyday?
• Where does your water come from?
• How long could you survive without water?

The second quarter CAP class chose “water” as their environmental issue. Students got excited about this issue after reading the New York Time article “The Future is Drying Up” by Joe Gertner. The article addresses water rights in the West and the imminent water shortage that Coloradans face if we continue to use water at our current rate of consumption.

After some initial conversations, much research, and feelings of being overwhelmed by such a big issue, students came up with the following problem statement:

In North America, the average American uses 600 liters of water a day, while the average African uses 6. In reality, humans need to use about 50 liters per day. Over consumption of water does not just mean taking long showers, leaving the tap running while you brush your teeth, or watering the lawn. One of our biggest consumers of water is industrial agriculture. To make one cotton T-shirt it takes 9oz of cotton. To make that t-shirt from that cotton it takes 25 bathtubs full of water. In homes, businesses, and industrial agriculture, our water is being polluted and unnecessarily used. As a result of the high demand for water we are putting our scarce supply of fresh water, and ourselves, at risk.

The students did a lot of research to be sure they were well-informed about water issues. The class met with the Keep It Clean Partnership, and took a tour of Boulder’s waste water treatment plant. They also read many articles from water experts. Students researched the sources of their own water and mapped their watersheds.

After much deliberation students decided to address this problem through an educational campaign at their school. The class divided into four groups:

• The art group created educational posters and a collaborative mural using provocative art
• A second group created educational pamphlets
• A third created a movie about water in arid Colorado
• And to tie it all together the class wrote and performed a skit for the whole school.

The students aim to have their mural displayed in the City of Boulder’s water office. They distributed their pamphlets after their presentation to the whole school. The movie, an animated film which shows what the future might look like if we don’t change our habits was a hit, with one teacher exclaiming, “That was one of the best CAP presentations I’ve ever seen.”

The students worked hard to create a fantastic educational campaign and their water posters remain posted around the school on bathroom doors, above water fountains, and over sinks.

Well Done CAP!

CAP Pre-Course Survey, 3rd Quarter 2010

Welcome to the Community Adventure Program. Before we get started, we need to get some feedback about the outdoors, the environment, your community, etc. Please answer this survey honestly and to the best of your ability. The good folks who fund this class use this information to assess the performance of the class and this information will help us acquire new grants. Please Click Here To Take The Survey.

Through water issues, new friendships, and freezing cold temps

The 2nd quarter CAP class of the 2009-10 school year have been on quite a journey. While our first overnight in November boasted balmy fall temperatures, our second in December had record lows! Another group might not have been able to handle it, but 2nd quarter CAP pulled through. Our action project–Conserving Water Creatively was a smash hit at exhibition day, with one teacher exclaiming “That was the best CAP presentation I have ever seen.” Here are some photos and quotes from all of the students who made this quarter such a success.

“This quarter I have been so fortunate to have an incredibly positive and fun environment to look forward to at the end of each day. This class has been one of the most rewarding, irreplaceable school experiences I’ve ever had. The overnights were such remarkable experiences for me. Each trip made me feel invigorated. I left feeling refreshed, passionate for environmental conservation, and conscious of my ability to slow down and take on thing at a time.” ~Marissa Bramlett

“CAP class has changed my point of view on so many things about the environment that I never would have thought of before. It brought new ideas to my attention. What I can do with the information I learned is just spread what I learned to others and hope they learn from it like me. The overnights were so great and they helped me out so much. If I could take CAP every quarter I would.” ~Taylor McQueeney

“The class as a whole was one giant new experience for me. I did and learned a lot of things that I otherwise would have never got the chance for. I went camping for the first time in my life! Twice, one of which was in freezing cold temperatures, that was a skill I never thought I had. I got to make music for a movie, and I really branched out and got to know my classmates a lot better. I feel like we developed a family like group since we were all so diverse yet had to interact with each other and I’m really glad I got to know all these amazing people that I otherwise wouldn’t have bother to get to know. ~Benza Maman

“This quarter I learned a lot, from helping the environment, to reducing my human footprint, to the one match fire! When I joined CAP I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I found out I really liked it. Overall this quarter I learned to look at people differently and to think differently, and how I can make a difference in the world.” ~Halsey Black

“Our CAP class has learned a lot about a lot of things and done quite a lot too! We’ve learned and discussed the human footprint, including water issues and what we can do about it. We learned wilderness skills and about the electrical and heating system in our school and how to save on energy in our houses. I think we’ve really gotten a chance to think about what we cand o personally and in bigger ways to change some problems in our community and really look at those problems we would otherwise never realize.” ~Bayani Kawal

“I enjoyed doing the action project because I realized how big the environmental issue “water” can be, as well as some of the things I need to start doing to improve my environmental footprint. Working on the action project got me aware of the issues that we face today concerning water, energy, CO2 emissions and many more. After taking this class I will start changing some of my habits that impact the world even if they are small, every little thing counts and adds up. I will encourage my family to change their habits too.” ~Nick Smith

“The CAP program is a very unique and interesting class. I feel privileged to have participate in this class. One thing I didn’t expect what that I got to know everyone in the class extremely well. This class has taught me a great deal about myself and how I work in a group dynamic. I’ve never had to rely on the other members of my group they way I had to for this class.  This class forces you to make friends, it is almost impossible to just hide back and do the work, which I am used to. Being an informed member of our global community makes wasting and polluting much more difficult. I have found that because I know more it makes it much harder because I can’t make the claim that I didn’t know what I was doing.” ~Thomas Regur

“CAP has been a great opportunity for me. It’s allowed me to expand my horizons. I enjoyed all the activities and projects we’ve done. I honestly wish I didn’t pick CAP this quarter because it is one of the shortest quarters and I want more. I want more time to do things, and to bring more awareness to our action project.” ~Yaxa deLaGrange

“I started this class in all truthfulness because I am a senior and I thought it would be an easy way to kill time. First of all I want to say that it has not been easy, I have been forced to use every aspect of my being to lead myself through waht I thought would be my final walk in the park at New Vista. [It was] on the first overnight that I realized the power of this class…the overnight allowed me to believe that no matter what happened we would have a strong enough foundation to succeed [on our action project]. Throughout the project I found out that you don’t really have to care about something to put your heart into it, and also sometimes when you put your heart into something you realize you do care about it. Throughout this class I have had the chance to be myself and also to try to step out of my comfort zone and work on things that I never would have. What I love about CAP is that it is so much: it’s a chance to be yourself, a chance to learn about the environment, a chance to work with others, but most of all it’s a chance to make a change… I have even started to write about the environment in my college essays, and found myself talking to my whole family. Thoreau said ‘As if you could kill time without injuring eternity,” so while I started this class to kill some time, in some way I believe my life will never be the same.” ~Julien Scherliss

“This class has helped me to feel jazzed about being kind to the earth, and I feel inspired to take better care of my environment. Throughout my life, am here and now committing to do as much work to heal the earth as I can. It is a big task and the world needs all the helping hands it can get.” ~Tzuria Malpica

“I think the biggest thing I learned this quarter is that knowledge is power and you should abuse it. If you research something like water issues that everyone is a part of and don’t tell people about the affects that they obviously aren’t aware of, then you are not doing your part. Knowledge is the first step to change. When people understand that their 20 minute shower isn’t just excessive it’s also, in a way, stealing water from other people and animals downstream, you put the power in their hands.” ~Henry Giebler

“This class has given me hope for our future. It’s stunning to me that CAP is not taught in every school. It feels like it is essential to receive an education about the harsh wounds our earth is suffering. How are we supposed to mend the problem if we’re not given the tools to do so. In addition, I fear that this generation is losing it’s connection with nature. Technology has infected like the plague. CAP reminds us that we are a collective. Through CAP I have developed an increased awareness of my footprint. I also have a heightened appreciation for the rapidly fading natural world that we often take advantage of. Ernest Becker writes, ‘When we understand that man is the only animal who must create meaning, who must open a wedge into neutral nature, we already understand the essence of love. Love is the problem of an animal who must find life, create a dialogue with nature in order to experience his own being.’ Thanks to CAP, I can’t wait to hear the rest of my conversation with nature.” ~Tess Eckert