Earth Task Force helps New Vista High School Become First Green Star School!

Citizens of the United States represent about 5% of the world’s population but produce 30% of the world’s garbage. The Earth Task Force (ETF) was shocked by this amount of waste production. For years the ETF has searched for ways to reduce waste production at New Vista High School (NVHS) and save precious natural resources. Past projects have included recycling campaigns, reuse campaigns and a student-run composting program.  Now they have been rewarded for all that hard work! At the beginning of April 2013 ETF partnered with Eco-Cycle to help NVHS become the first Green Star High School.

Eco-cycle’s Green Star Schools program works with schools with the goal of zero waste. The end goal is that none of the school’s waste is thrown into the landfill. Green Star Schools is a comprehensive program that involves educating the staff and student body about what goes where and it includes an industrial composting system!

For the last 4 years the ETF had been using an on site compost where compost was taken by the ETF’s members to an area at the back of the school. Unfortunately, it meant that not all products, like meat and dairy, could be composted and compostable flatware and silverware still had to be thrown away. Because of ETF’s hard work running the backyard composting program, they were thrilled to become a Green Star school and gain the ability to expand the compost program with an industrial level system.  The industrial composting from Eco-Cycle now allows many different kinds of items to be composted at New Vista further reducing the waste we produce.

The Earth Task Force and Ecocycle hosted a Green Star School launch on April 3rd, which included a student written skit performed by students and staff to educate the NVHS community about the importance of conserving our precious natural resources. Eco-cycle introduced the new recycling and composting systems. At the end of the presentation representatives from each classroom came to pick up trash, recycle, and compost bins for each room in the school. The launch was fun for the entire school and a great way to start off the Green Star School program. Students are happy about the new waste disposal system and the amount of foodstuffs being composted rather than thrown away. The office staff has decided to host zero waste events with financial support from the Earth Task Force.

Written by student journalist Allison Bell.

The Earth Task Force is a Cottonwood Institute-supported program at New Vista High School in Boulder, CO designed to give students an opportunity to take the lead to implement sustainability initiatives at their school.

Blue Skies and Crocuses—A Learning Garden Update!

Although we haven’t been planting, or digging, or weeding during the winter season, we have been doing a lot of work to get ready for the 2013 growing season!

Here are a few quick updates from the New Vista High School Learning Garden Crew:

• We raised $5,000 to support the Learning Garden. This money is allocated to our Garden Coordinator position and will support it for two years!
• We hired an experienced educator and marvelous Garden Coordinator, Melanie Goldbort. Melanie is skilled in gardening and passionate about connecting people with their food. One of her goals in life is to create a new generation of farmers. She also co-founded Boulder Family Farms. To read her full bio Click Here.
• Melanie is meeting with teachers to write standards-based garden lessons for high-schoolers! Thank you teachers for taking the time!
• A garden club for students at NVHS will begin this April. The 1st meeting will be Thursday, April 25th, 2013. Stay tuned for more information. Or Email Melanie if you are already interested.
• We have received word from Boulder Valley School District that they will support our garden with funding this year. We’re going to buy seeds, tools, irrigation materials and more.
• We will be partnering with Boulder Food Rescue to donate a large part of our harvest to communities in need and our Learning Garden will officially be named a “Garden Against Hunger.”
• We need volunteers of all ages to love, care for, and eat from our garden this summer. If you or someone you know is interested in helping out, please Email Melanie Goldbort.

The New Vista High School Learning Garden is a Cottonwood Institute-supported program at New Vista High School in Boulder, CO designed to give students an opportunity to take the lead to implement sustainability initiatives at their school. Learning Gardens are a product of The Kitchen Community in Boulder, CO.

Earth Task Force Shows Off! (In a good way)

On February 27th, 2012, attendees of the Green Schools National Conference came to visit New Vista High School (NVHS) and the Earth Task Force (ETF) got a chance to show off in a good way. About 50 people from all over the nation participated in the tour. The ETF visit was part of a larger tour of Boulder Valley School District’s sustainability efforts, but the organizers of the tour specifically asked to visit the Earth Task Force!

The work ETF has done at NVHS is significant because the story of their building is the story of many schools across the country. The NVHS school building is old, inefficient, and an energy hog! There’s little money, lots of issues, an old boiler, but lots of enthusiasm. The tour of NVHS, designed and run by students in the ETF, highlighted changes schools can make without large-scale capital improvement. The tour consisted of 5 stations that highlighted the ETF’s fundraising and grassroots efforts: solar panels, low-flow toilets, the school
garden, vending machine misers, and the student-run compost.

At each station, ETF members talked about the projects and then took questions
from attendees. At the solar panel display, people on the tour furiously scribbled
down the names of various energy contests. At the garden station, tour members
read the colorful signs from about the space, by the compost they oohed and aahed! In between stations, ETF members leading the tours pointed out stickers on light switches around the school that say “Turn Me Off. How would you feel if someone turned you on and left?” As one attendee put it, “that might not go over so well at an elementary school.”

The Earth Task Force received lots of positive feedback about the tour attendees
at the larger conference in Denver called it “The highlight of the week.”

Written by Seth Blum, student reporter, edited by Paige Doughty.

The Earth Task Force (ETF) is a Cottonwood Institute-supported program at New Vista High School in Boulder, CO designed to give students an opportunity to take the lead to implement sustainability initiatives at their school.

Earth Task Force Recognized for Green Prize and Receives $10,000 Check!

Last February, Earth Task Force (ETF) students and staff, co-wrote a grant application for the National Environmental Education Foundation’s (NEEF) Green Prize Award. The Green Prize is a national contest for schools across the country with a prize of $10,000 to help fund the winning schools’ sustainability efforts.  In 2011, over 100 schools from around the country applied.  New Vista High School’s Earth Task Force, sponsored by the Cottonwood Institute, won this prestigious award!

On Wednesday September 14th, 2011 Jen Taboula, from NEEF; along with New Vista Principal, Kirk Quitter; Boulder Valley School District Superintendent, Bruce Messinger; Ford Church, Cottonwood Institute Executive Director; and the entire New Vista student body helped ETF celebrate their success with a school-wide assembly. During the assembly, NVHS’s sustainability efforts from curriculum to composting were applauded. Jen Taboula lauded the homegrown sustainability efforts of students and staff. “You aren’t sitting in a LEED certified building,” Taboula stated. “What stood out to me is that what you’re doing (is what) students around the country could be doing, regardless of the resources at their schools.”

Taboula also mentioned that the reason NVHS stood out amongst all of the candidates was because of strong student participation and the possibility of replicating the programming elsewhere. A big part of the programming Taboula referred to comes from the Cottonwood Institute’s Community Adventure Program, and the support that Cottonwood Institute gives the Earth Task Force through funding and resources. Truly the winning of this award is the result of strong community partnerships between Cottonwood Institute and NVHS students and staff.

The ETF has implemented dozens of projects, including the installation of solar panels on the school’s roof, all-school lunches made from local ingredients, and alternative transportation programs. The ETF is extremely proud their efforts have paid off, and are excited to put the prize money to good use. They are hoping to use the money to expand the New Vista gardens, put on more events that engage the school, and make more green improvements to the building, such as planting trees or even a green roof!

Click Here to read the article that appeared in the Boulder Daily Camera.

Click Here for a slideshow of the celebration!

This article was written by Gracie Currier-Tate and edited by Paige Doughty. We also want to acknowledge students Kelly Muller and Seth Blum, along with mentor Paige Doughty and teachers Kate Hartman and Andy Stephens for writing the Green Prize grant – way to go!

 

Green Dress Exchange: Earth Task Force Re-Thinks Prom

Prom is a tradition known around our nation and celebrated by high school students of every caliber.  Often times, high school students buy a brand new outfit for every prom they attend.  According to Annie Leonard, voice and face behind “The Story of Stuff“, only 1% of the “stuff” Americans buy is still in use six months after purchase.  That means that 99% of the things Americans buy is trashed in 6 months or less!  These are some of the reasons why the Earth Task Force (ETF) began to imagine a new way to approach prom.

Students from the ETF decided to educate their community about consumerism and give their peers an alternative option to buying new for prom.  With donations from a popular second-hand store in Boulder called Savers, and personal donations by several members of the ETF, the Green Dress Exchange was born!

The idea is simple: bring a dress and get a different one in return.  If you don’t have a dress to exchange, bring $10.00 instead.  That way students spend a lot less money (or no money at all) on new prom outfits and still keep their other dresses in use.

The exchange was open to students throughout Boulder Valley School District.  While it was difficult to effectively get the word out to every high school, in the end the dress exchange was a big success.  There were more dresses than expected, and almost everyone that came traded in a dress.

Cookies were baked, music was played, and many people arrived.  Students from two high schools attended to trade their dresses, and all left happy and well-clad in their new gowns.  In total around twenty-five people came, only one of whom paid the ten dollar fee.

In addition to the Green Dress Exchange, students from the ETF transformed prom itself from a resource-intense endeavor to one with compostable cups, plates, and utensils, and awareness-raising about the amount of waste created by decorations and transportation to the event.

The Green Dress Exchange was the first event of its kind for the ETF, one that will definitely be repeated and expanded upon in 2012.

The Earth Task Force (ETF) is a Cottonwood Institute-sponsored program at New Vista High School in Boulder, CO designed to give student an opportunity to take the lead to implement sustainability initiatives at their school.

This article was written by Vanessa Jacks and edited by Paige Doughty.

Earth Task Force Hosts S.U.P.E.R. Summit

After a wildly successful inaugural year, the Cottonwood Institute‘s Earth Task Force at New Vista High School is taking on a new challenge this year to host Boulder Valley School District‘s first student-directed environmental summit called Students Understanding Personal Environmental Responsibility, also known as the S.U.P.E.R. Summit.

High school students and teachers from all over the district will gather at Casey Middle School, one of the greenest schools in the district, on Thursday, November 11, 2010 from 10am – 3pm to connect, collaborate, and create an action plan to help reduce their school’s environmental footprint.

Using an open space meeting format, participants will help create the agenda to choose their own adventure, plan their adventure, and share their adventure to help their schools and their community reduce their environmental footprint. We are also excited to feature an amazing, dynamic, and inspiring presentation from the Alliance for Climate Education and a chance to network with local environmental organizations.

A special thanks goes out to Earth Task Force students, Paige Doughty, Kate Hartman, Andy Stephens, Ghita Carrol from the Boulder Valley School District, and Amy Atkins from Alliance for Climate Education for working tirelessly over the past few months to put this event together.

This event is free and open to all BVSD high school students and teachers! Best of all, BVSD high school environmental groups will be eligible to receive a $200 starter grant from Alliance for Climate Education to help execute their action plan.

To register for this event, please contact Ghita Carroll at 720.561.5181 or via Email by November 8th, 2010. For media inquiries, please contact Ghita Carroll or Ford Church, at 303.447.1076 or via Email. For a full agenda, Click Here.

Earth Task Force Is Unstoppable

The Earth Task Force is a new program the Cottonwood Institute launched last year to give student who have completed our Community Adventure Program an opportunity to continue changing the world. Looking back on their accomplishments the past year, the Earth Task Force is unstoppable.

With the support of Cottonwood Institute Earth Task Force Mentor, Paige Doughty, New Vista High School teacher sponsors, Kate Hartman and Andy Stephens, and the Boulder Valley School District, students and staff meet twice a week to create events to raise awareness of the school’s environmental impact and to offer accessible solutions the school, teachers, staff, and students can take to reduce their environmental impact.

The results they are producing are simply amazing. Here are a few of their accomplishments last year:

• Boulder Valley School District 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.
• The Earth Task Force helped write a grant to The Earth Day Network and won a $32,000 solar panel system for New Vista High School, which was installed just before Earth Day 2010 by Simple Solar.
• The Earth Task Force received a $2,000 grant from the Alliance for Climate Education to install low flow toilets in their school to help reduce water use at their school and Boulder Valley School District matched this grant with an additional $2,000.
• The Earth Task Force received a $500 grant from the Alliance for Climate Education to host Boulder Valley School District’s first Environmental Summit to bring together BVSD school environmental clubs to share ideas, resources, challenges, and to gain inspiration from one another.
• They successfully organized “Lights out Lunch,” “Local Lunch,” “Bring Your Own Coffee Mug,” “Alternative Transportation” events and 2 all school assemblies to raise awareness about local environmental issues and encourage their school community to take action to reduce their environmental footprint.
• They have received positive media attention for their efforts, including: an article by Vanessa Miller from the Boulder Daily Camera, an interview by Nikki Kayser on the Dot Org show on 88.5FM in Boulder, and an article by Marisa McNatt posted to Earth911.com.
• The Earth Task Force was recognized and acknowledged for all of their hard work and accomplishments. Two Community Adventure Program Alumni and Earth Task Force members, Zander Deetz and Aaron Fox, won the 2010 Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award by the City of Boulder Youth Opportunities Board and each member was recognized by the Boulder Valley School District by receiving Superintendent’s Honor Roll certificate.

This is an excellent example of how the Cottonwood Institute is inspiring a new generation of active community leaders who are environmentally aware, civically engaged, and who are empowered to make a difference in their community. Way to go Earth Task Force!

If you would like to make a donation to help support this program, please Click Here.

And The Award Goes To…

This has been a phenomenal year for the Cottonwood Institute and we are so proud of everything our students have accomplished. But don’t take our word for it, let the awards speak for themselves:

CITY OF BOULDER OUTSTANDING YOUTH VOLUNTEER AWARD:

Every year, the City of Boulder, through the Youth Opportunities Advisory Board, recognizes 10 outstanding youth who go above and beyond to make a positive contribution to their community. Two Community Adventure Program alumni, Zander Deetz and Aaron Fox, won the 2010 Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award for their involvement with the Earth Task Force at New Vista High School to help reduce their school’s environmental footprint. To learn more about the accomplishments of the Earth Task Force, check out our previous articles: New Vista Flips The Solar Switch and Students Take The Lead To Reduce Their School’s Environmental Footprint.

BOULDER VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT’S HONOR ROLL:

Finally, the amazing accomplishments of the Earth Task Force were also recognized by Boulder Valley School District through the Superintendent’s Honor Roll. The Superintendent awarded each member a certificate and recognized the Earth Task Force at the beginning of the Boulder Valley School District’s April 21, 2010 Board of Education meeting. According to Superintendent Chris King, the Earth Task Force at New Vista High School was recognized for their “outstanding contributions toward meeting BVSD’s goals as outlined in the BVSD Sustainability Management System or SMS.”

2010 RIPPLE EFFECT AWARD:

Each spring, we take a moment to recognize all of the amazing Action Projects that our students take on each year to help initiate positive change in their schools, in their communities, and for the environment. We hosted our 2010 Ripple Effect Awards at the REI Boulder Store on Friday, May 21, 2010. Attendees evaluated and voted for the 2009 Action Project that had the biggest impact and selected Bees, Buildings, and Bites as the 2010 Ripple Effect Award winner! We also want to thank Old Chicago for donating pizza, Folsom Street Coffee for donating tea, and Bryan Buikema from Cracker 8 Projects for designing and creating this beautiful award, which will be on display at New Vista High School.

New Vista High School Flips the Solar Switch

In an extraordinary effort of achievement, a small group of committed students at New Vista High School witnessed the fruits of their labor as they helped flip the switch to a new solar panel system recently installed at their school.

After completing the Community Adventure Program, the core educational program of the Cottonwood Institute, a group of students came together because they wanted to continue making a difference in their community. They started a student-directed club at New Vista High School called the Earth Task Force and agreed upon a common goal: to help reduce their school’s environmental footprint.

They collaborated with the Boulder Valley School District’s Sustainability Coordinator, Ghita Carroll, who paid for an energy audit of their school. They helped write a grant to the Earth Day Network to install a solar panel system at their school and they won the grant! Simple Solar, a Boulder-based company, installed the solar panel system just before Earth Day 2010. This system will help significantly offset their schools energy bill, reduce CO2 emissions, and help the school save money during tough economic times.

Here are a few impressive stats about the system:

• Simple Solar installed 22 Siliken solar panels, which will produce about 6,765 kilowatt hours per year.
• The clean energy produced by the system will eliminate 12,177 pounds of CO2 per year, the equivalent of reducing the number of vehicle miles driven by 15,154 per year or planting 534 trees.
• Assuming modest increases in electrical rates, the system will save the school about $32,472 to $40,590 over the course of the 40 to 50 year expected life of the system.

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.”

This is project is an excellent example of community leaders we are inspiring through the Cottonwood Institute. A special thanks goes out to Boulder Valley School District, New Vista High School, the Earth Task Force, Simple Solar, and the Earth Day Network for making this project possible.

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.

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