Please click here to read our latest Greenfox Schools’ Newsletter!!!

CLICK HERE — for Invitation and Event Information!!!!

Greenfox Schools launches Spring 2011 Fundraiser! Click Here to Donate!

We are raising $5,000 this May to finance capital projects that will allow us to reach several hundred more students, and expand our sustainability education programming for K-12 youth throughout the Boston area.

Specifically:

$12 pays for 20 issues of Greenfox Kids! Magazine for one classroom

$35 pays for the materials for a standard Greenfox Schools sustainability workshop

$50 pays for the materials for one 12-week after school program of 10 students

$90 pays for one student to attend one 12-week after school program

$375 pays for the operating cost of a high school Greenfox5 Club for one semester

$500 pays for the operating cost of a college Greenfox5 Club for one semester
or the cost of a standard Greenfox Schools sustainability workshop

$900 pays for one 12-week after school program of 10 students

In just one academic season Greenfox Schools has tripled the number of education programs we run, and the demand for more of our programming is growing! Thank you for your support. -The Greenfox Team

Greenfox Schools Director, Ashlee Dahlberg (pictured Left) with Development Coordinator, Tara Fortunato (pictured Right). Fresh Pond Day, Cambridge, MA, on May 7th, 2011.

Greenfox Schools partnered with Fresh Pond Reservation in Cambridge, MA, to help with the Adopt-A-Tree program at Fresh Pond Day this past Saturday, May 7th.  Fresh Pond Day is an event celebrating nature, environmental education, and eco-friendly activities.  In an effort to increase the number of trees in Cambridge, the Adopt-A-Tree program, headed up by Ranger Jean Rogers, gave residents free pine, spruce, and cedar seedlings.  Greenfox team members Ashlee Dahlberg, Tara Fortunato, Kristen von Hoffmann, and Audra Burns handed out trees and talked with children and families about tree care and Greenfox educational programs. 

Greenfox Schools Founder and Chair, Kristen von Hoffmann (pictured Front) with Tara Fortunato, Development Coordinator (pictured Back). Fresh Pond Day, Cambridge, MA on May 7th, 2011.

Members from the Greenfox Schools team setting up to volunteer at Fresh Pond Day, and gearing up to hand out free tree seedlings to Cambridge residents. May 7th, 2011.

Dear Friends of Greenfox Schools:

Greenfox Students at the King Open School in Cambridge, MA, learn about composting and growing food in Greenfox5 sustainability classes. Pictured here in the CitySprouts garden at the King Open School.

Thank you for your continued support of Greenfox Schools and for your interest in sustainability education and youth leadership. There are two questions I am often asked, which I take a moment to answer below. The first question I address is: “what is sustainability?” In this day and age, we may be familiar with terms like “green” “climate change” and “eco-friendly.” Sustainability is the new word of choice, and below I explain what it means and why it’s a holistic approach to environmental integration. The second question I write about is: “what is the role of sustainability in education?”

What is Sustainability?

Sustainability is our future. When we define this term, which was ultimately coined by former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem at the United Nations Brundtland Commission in 1983, we are talking about a unification of all sectors in an effort to take care of the planet.

A Greenfox Schools student at the Tobin School in Cambridge, MA, raises his hand to discuss the Greenfox5 categories of Products, Food, Energy, Waste, and Greenspace, after an outdoor sustainability audit of his school's outdoor spaces.

Specifically, sustainability requires the cooperation of environmental, social, and economic sectors, often referred to as the three spheres. Sustainable practices do not just refer to energy and climate change, they encompass all facets of the environment and require us to understand how these facets are interconnected.

Think about an apple. Where did it come from? Where was it grown, who raised it as a crop, and what agricultural policies were in place? How far did it travel to reach the supermarket where you bought it from? How did you travel to that supermarket? How much carbon dioxide was used? How did you dispose of the apple, and will it be composted, burned, or dumped? These kinds of questions demonstrate that nearly any product, and any action we take, has a lifecycle that is highly complex.

This is not say that sustainability means walking on eggshells and monitoring every small choice a person makes. Rather, sustainability requires that people develop a new awareness of how some of their choices may affect the planet. That means an awareness of the choices we make as individuals, and the choices we make as groups.

Our planet is comprised of a comprehensive network of living and non-living systems. Currently, our global population is nearing 7 billion people and is expected to grow past 9 billion people by 2050, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base. The reality is that everything is interconnected, and the more we can do to understand the actual connections among environmental, social, and economic sectors, the better we can do in making healthy and positive choices that serve the best interest of humankind and the preservation of the planet.

A Greenfox5 Club high school student at Prospect Hill Academy in Cambridge, MA, points to the collection of used Expo markers. This Greenfox5 Club partnered with TerraCycle to collect old markers and recycle them.

Thus, sustainability is about creating human systems that run for a long time on practice and behavior that has minimal impact on the natural environment, allowing for the preservation of our planet, while meeting our current societal needs with the highest quality of life standards possible. As was described by the Great Law of the Iroquois, “In our every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”

Understanding this reality serves as the basis for understanding the importance of sustainability.

The success of our future is embedded in our ability to recognize our interconnectedness as a global community. We are no longer separate floating entities. We are all responsible to each other, and our success in sustaining the earth will require sustainability initiatives at every level—domestic, town, state, federal, and global.

There is vast potential for sustainability initiatives to continue to grow and sustain the earth in positive ways, and the measure of that success is determined by the choices people make every day and the ways in which we work together as human beings to achieve that change.

What is the Role of Sustainability in Education?

As schools, we have a responsibility to make sustainability a top priority because we have both an environmental responsibility to reduce our impact on the planet, and because schools educate students and the community at large. The network of influence a single school empowers is like a star, emitting powerful light that spreads across great distances both through time and space, convening its own orbit and solar system. By implementing sustainability in our schools, we can make a lasting and positive impact.

Specific to education, sustainability must play out in three ways: first, through the operational design, or way in which we approach the function of our school buildings; secondly, through the practice and daily choices made by building occupants; and thirdly, through the integration of sustainability education into aspects of classroom curriculum and programming.

Greenfox Schools students composting at the King Open School in Cambridge, MA.

As we develop, rebuild, and renovate school building systems, we strive to keep in mind how to put design, operations, and practice into place that allows for high levels of function with minimal impact on the environment: such as providing adequate shelter, lighting, heating, cooling, ventilation, cleaning and waste disposal systems while reducing energy use and carbon dioxide emissions, eliminating the use of harmful toxins, and decreasing the amount of waste we generate.

All successful district and campus models for sustainability in the United States have made sustainability education a core piece of their strategy, as well. It’s important for students to learn about the interconnectedness of societal and environmental systems, so that they can recognize that environmental issues are not separate and disconnected from their day-to-day life. Engaging students to be leaders of sustainability helps to mobilize an entire school community in the effort of reaching energy and sustainable practice goals, and ultimately aids in the process of cutting costs and saving money for a school district.

Greenfox Schools students at the Tobin School in Cambridge, MA, learned about the process and science behind recycling, and then made their own recycled paper.

Implementing sustainability in schools is a team effort. Teachers play a huge role in the process of a child’s growth and their understanding of the world around them, and so play a critical role in the success of sustainability implementation and student engagement, as do all building occupants and staff, including a school’s custodial staff who work hard to maintain sustainable operations. Often, sustainability plans involve partners within the municipality, such as the department of public works or community groups.

Schools affect the lives of students, and in doing so, the families of those students; parents who go out into the world every day with values and ideals that are hugely inspired by what their children have to say. Empowering youth to create a sustainable future is critical in the process of preserving the planet. Students are our future lawmakers, parents, consumers, ambassadors, and educators, and we can all make a difference in the here and now by making sustainability a priority.

Greenfox Schools students at the King Open School in Cambridge, MA, after a nature walk.

Thanks for reading, and as always, the Greenfox Team welcomes your feedback and thoughts on sustainability and education.

Kristen von Hoffmann, Founder & Chair