Go Green Initiative School of the Week

Barbara Bush Elementary, Grand Prairie, TX

 

This week’s Go Green Initiative School of the Week has been named our 2007 International School of the Year! Barbara Bush Elementary has received awards from Keep America Beautiful, Keep Texas Beautiful, and the American Forest and Paper Association. They are truly standard bearers for creating a campus culture of conservation, and we are so proud to have them as a leader in the Go Green Initiative network of schools!

 

They have an active recycling program, composting and litter abatement program, and are striving to lead the way in energy conservation and indoor air quality improvement. They are a stellar example of putting all five elements of the Go Green Initiative into action! The students actively take a leadership role, and have a great deal of campus pride!

 

With an average recycling rate of 237 lbs. of paper per student, Barbara Bush Elementary’s recycling rate is seven times the national average and the highest in the nation.

 

In the past 18 months alone, Barbara Bush Elementary accomplished the following:

 

·        Avoided 48 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions

·        Avoided the sue of 625 million BTU’s of energy use

·        Saved 205 cubic yards of landfill waste

·        Avoided the use of 434,000 gallons of water

·        Allowed 4,836 tree seedlings to grow

 

“We’re so proud to receive this honor,” said Jennifer Neal, principal of Barbara Bush Elementary.  “Our teachers and students work hard to be environmentally responsible and receiving this kind of award gives them all the more reason to continue their good works.”

 

Barbara Bush Elementary was selected from a network of over 850 schools in 46 states, 10 countries and 4 continents! Barbara Bush Elementary’s award continues the long and happy relationship GGI has had with Texas schools.  The Texas State PTA was the first state PTA in the nation to adopt the GGI in 2003.  In 2005, the State of Texas was named the first Go Green State of the Year.  In 2006, Grand Prairie was named the Go Green City of the Year.

 

At the Awards Dinner at the 3rd Annual Go Green Earth Summit on Saturday, November 3, 2007, the school received a letter of recognition from Mrs. Barbara Bush, with a handwritten note praising them for their outstanding accomplishments.

 

Click here to see a video of the students in action!