Green Teams
Throughout the district, schools are involved in conservation both inside and outside of the classroom. Many schools have student groups or clubs that carry out incredible programs that help protect our environment and conserve the Earth's precious resources. These students might be part of a green team, environmental club, SUN Class, or student council who identify environmental issues as a priority.
This page will walk you through how to start a green club at your school, and point you towards resources to help keep your club busy!
Starting a Green Club at Your School
Green Clubs are a great way to affect change at your school, to lower your school's environmental footprint and to raise awareness throughout the student body. Below is a basic step-by-step guide to getting a green club up and running.
- Find an adult adviser. Teachers, librarians, teacher assistants, and parent volunteers may all serve as club advisers.
- Decide when your club can meet. Typically this is before school, during lunch or after school. In special cases, club meetings may even take place during school. Consider:
-Do most students leave on the bus right after school?
-Is there an existing program to work with? i.e. SUN Schools, Student Council
-Where do students eat lunch? Teachers? - Recruit Students. There are many ways to recruit students for your club:
-Make an announcement at a staff meeting and have teacher either a) pass on the message and have kids sign up or b) have teachers nominate students from their class
-Make fliers and put them up around school (recycled/reused paper make great posters!)
-If you have school wide assemblies, make an announcement or perform a skit to let everyone know about the club
-Make announcements at lunch
-Incorporate environmental education into a class or an after school program - Educate, make change and have fun! Here are some ideas and resources to make your green club educational, effective and fun for everyone involved:
-Activities to demonstrate target areas for waste reduction and recycling
-Presentations and lesson plans
-Field Trips
-Projects to improve recycling, waste reduction and energy conservation
Starting Adult Green Teams: driven by faculty and parents
Starting a Green Team is a great way to get the conversation started and gain the support and resources your school needs to successfully accomplish your green school efforts. You don't have to re-invent the wheel, many schools are succeeding at creating the type of team that gets the job done. Learn from their best practices in
"How to Build a Successful Green Team."
