EE Week 2008: Carbon Footprints

If you are reading this as a National Environmental Education (EE) Week veteran, you are probably familiar with the many ways environmental education benefits our students and our world.  If you are new to Environmental Education Week, I hope you will discover how enriching environmental education can be for your students, no matter what kind of educator you are.  Whether you are a teacher looking to bring real-world problem-solving into your curriculum, a homeschooling parent looking to teach your children about leadership in your community, or a community educator looking to inspire compassion for plants and animals, participating in Environmental Education Week is a terrific way to get your students excited about the natural world and bring positive change in your schools and communities.

I am especially thrilled to be your spokesperson for Environmental Education Week 2008, because the theme of this year's events is Carbon Footprints.  I have read about some of the amazing work student groups have done to trim down their carbon output and mitigate climate change, and EE Week 2008 will be a great opportunity to engage even more young people about what they can do.  For example, students at Brookside Elementary in California recently assigned "energy monitors" to each classroom through the Alliance to Save Energy's Green Schools Program.  By tracking lights and computers left on around campus, these students managed to shrink their school's annual carbon footprint by 27,876 pounds, a 9.5% reduction!

If you and your students are looking for ways to cut back on your own carbon output, you have come to the right place.  In honor or this year's theme, the Environmental Education Week website will offer many resources to help teachers educate their students about their own carbon footprints.  Log onto www.EEWeek.org for engaging, standards-based lesson plans on climate change, energy, and many other topics.  Starting in March, Environmental Education Week will offer a carbon footprint calculator that students and teachers can use together, as well as a list of creative ways to cut carbon consumption at school and at home.

Even if your activities are not carbon-related, I encourage all of you to take part in this year's Environmental Education Week festivities.  Whether you teach in the classroom, the community, the outdoors, or your own home, thank you for joining us!

Alexandra Cousteau
National Environmental Education Week 2008 Spokesperson

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