Sustainability Committee

What is the Sustainability Committee?

  1. Work with Building and Grounds to implement the Master Plan for NCS grounds.
  2. Use the Green Counsel's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) guidelines to assess what is used in our daily operations ~ cleaning supplies, paints, materials, energy consumption, re-using materials for projects ~ and implement those that make sense for NCS.
  3. Work with Georgia Organics to implement a strong Farm to School (F2S) program at NCS and share our practices to interested parties.  This includes research and documentation,  writing articles, and involving ourselves in F2S workshops to share our program with others.  It is a goal of Georgia Organics to implement Farm to School programs to other schools in the state and it is our goal to help provide them with the support needed.
  4. Register the school with the Clean Air Campaign and create best practices for reducing air pollution in and around the school.
  5. Reduce lunchtime waste by implementing a Zero-waste day.
  6. Implement a Reuse and Recycle plan for the school.

NCS' Committment to Sustainability

Our Charter

"During the term of the Agreement, the Charter School will continue to foster academic and personal growth and success through a constructivist philosophy of teaching, a conservation focus, and its unique, standards-based curriculum."

"During the first five years of the Charter School’s operation, in compliance with the original petition and charter, the Charter School developed its own standards-based curriculum, with a constructivist philosophy and an underlying theme of conservation and ecology. A guiding principle was that students must have a solid scientific and decision-making foundation so that they can make good conservation decisions throughout their lifetimes."

Our Principal

"How great to have the sustainability initiative as part of our school.  The momentum of the conservation mission identified in our original charter is so exciting, particularly because the students of NCS are central and active participants.  Supported by teachers and parents there is an authentic student momentum around recycling and the renewal of our natural resources. As they realize how critical their role is in saving our planet's diminishing resources, students are making "go green" a familiar daily chant and conservation a commitment.

Rachel Carson once wrote...

If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.

How glorious that Neighborhood Charter School students have so many adult companions each day!”

Blueprint for a Healthy, Environmentally Sound School

On April 15, 2009, NCS Board unanimously approved to support the resolution, "Blueprint for a Healthy, Environmentally Sound School”.
This Resolution is a commitment from all of us at NCS to consider the health of our community at large as we make decisions concerning our daily activities. It also encourages us to take steps to be resourceful leaders in the “green movement” through innovation and communication.
 
This Resolution is currently gaining momentum in school districts and municipalities throughout the world. If you wish to understand the broader goals of how this commitment influences communities, schools, and our children, go to www.greenschools.net.  Click here to download Blueprint for a Healthy, Environmentally Sound School.

Current Sustainability Committee projects can be found here.

Contact committee members here.

Meeting Dates for 2010 - 2011 (all meetings will take place at NCS)

September 13th at 6:00 pm
October 25th at 6:00 pm
November 15th at 6:00 pm
December 21st Solstice Party, Time TBD
January 24th at 6:00 pm (begin Earth Day planning)
February - No Meeting
March 7th at 6:00 pm
April 11th at 6:00 pm
May 9th at 6:00 pm (End of the Year party)

Download minutes from previous meetings (PDF files):

January 2009 August 2010

Not So Fun Facts

  • Food and paper are the two largest contributors to landfill, and make up more than half of all landfill waste – more than all plastics, diapers, Styrofoam, and tires, COMBINED.
  • 84 percent of all household waste can be recycled!
  • If 10,000 schools turned off their lights for one minute they would save $81,885.  If those same schools turned out their lights every time they went to recess, they would save over $4.9 million.
  • 14 billion pounds of trash is dumped into the ocean every year
  • Each of us uses approximately one 100-foot-tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products per year
  • Here is an example of how long it takes some things to break down:

plastics take 500 years,
aluminum cans take 500 years,
organic materials, take 6 months,
cotton, rags, paper take 6 month.

  • It takes less gasoline to restart your car than it does to let it idle for more than a minute
  • Indoor lighting use is highest during the hours of 9 to 5, even though the light bulb was invented to help us see in the dark.
  • Letting your faucet run for five minutes uses about as much energy as letting a 60-watt light bulb run for 14 hours.
  • Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough energy to power the average American home for five months.
  • Americans throw away enough aluminum every month to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet.
  • Americans throw away enough glass bottles and jars every two weeks to fill the 1,350-foot towers of the former World Trade Center.

More information can be found in this publication.