Green Team Committee

District 64 has established a Green Team Committee to coordinate environmental sustainability efforts at its schools and at the District level.  The committee will identify ways to enhance and build upon environmentally friendly initiatives already in place, and will develop and coordinate the accomplishment of specific goals throughout the District.  Members include representatives from all schools and offices, the community, and school and District administrators.

  

 NEW -- Green Team Committee Update to the Board of Education
May 10, 2010 (PDF of memo )

  

 

Teacher Resource References

 

 

Monthly tip sheets help incorporate Green Team topics.  Each 1-page guide includes a short list of facts, several suggested discussion ideas, and Web sites for more information.

The Health of our Earth is Everyone's Responsibility -- Emissions (October) 

Develop Empathy towards the Earth -- Shopping Bags (November) 

Strategies to Reduce Holiday Waste (December)

Lunch-Time Recycling and Waste-Free Lunches (February)

Know About and Reduce Your Use of Electricity (March)

 District 64 Green Team Committee - Current Project

April 2010 Project

Recycle old athletic shoes
Just drop ‘em off and put ‘em back in the game! Old athletic shoes still have “game” – if you
choose to recycle them instead of sending them to the landfill.

For the second year, all District 64 schools and offices will collect old athletic shoes for
recycling during the month of April by Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program. Normally, old sneakers
are thrown away in the garbage and end up in a landfill. Through this unique program, Nike will
shred old athletic shoes into “Nike Grind,” a material that goes into making new sports surfaces
and fields, such as basketball and tennis courts, soccer and football fields, and running tracks.
District 64’s Green Team Committee is working with the Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook
County (SWANCC), one of Nike’s 28 official collection partners nationally, to collect shoes to
be converted into Nike Grind.

What type of shoes should be donated? Any size or brand of athletic shoe but only “court-type” shoes, such as running, aerobic, basketball, tennis or cross training. Please make sure shoes are dry and that any mud has been knocked off. No need to tie the laces together or rubber band them. Just drop ‘em off in the collection boxes at all schools and the District 64 office in April – and they’ll be back in the game as Nike Grind before long!

Please do NOT donate: soccer or baseball cleats; flip-flops, sandals and pool shoes; hard-soled
dress shoes and boots; shoes with batteries; and shoes that are more of a street shoe than a court shoe (children’s Velcro, slip-ons, Sketchers, Crocs, etc.)

2009-10 Projects

Clear out your clutter -- a great New Year's Resolution!
 Check out these local, recycling drop-off points for eyeglasses, ink cartridges, CFL bulbs, rechargeable batteries, and pop tabs from cans.  Here's the list.

For other recycling locations, visit:  www.swancc.org

Lunchroom recycling underway at all schools
 Here is a list of items that are acceptable for recycling by Lakeshore.  Recycling Do's & Don'ts for Lakeshore (PDF)

Recycle paper at 5 schools
 Earn money for our schools and the PTOs by bringing paper to the Abitibi recycling bins at 5 schools (Emerson, Franklin, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Washington).  Just drop-in your newspapers, magazines, catalogs, mail, office paper, paperback books, hardcover books (cover removed); please -- no cardboard or phone books.  Read more

January 2010 Project

  • Informational flyer on this project (PDF) -- phones due by Friday, January 29
  • Prepare your phone for donation by removing the SIM card.  If you don't have one, clear the phone's memory of contacts and other stored information --  click here to learn how.
  • Cell phone donation receipt (PDF) 
Resources for Green Information

Solid Waste Agency for Northern Cook County
Everything you ever wanted to know about waste reduction, reuse and recycling.

Illinois EPA Green Schools Programs
The Illinois EPA has several programs that are designed to improve the ability of schools to provide a safe and healthy environment for all those who use their facilities and to educate the next generation on the value of caring for the environment.

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Activity 
Lights for Learning Program -- Schools earn a 50% profit and a free educational assembly or classroom presentation about energy conservation by selling energy efficient Compact Fluorescent Light (CFLs) bulbs.  CFLs can last up to 10 times as long as an incandescent bulb while using 75% less energy.

Healthy Schools Campaign
Advocacy organization whose mission is to ensure that schools are healthy learning environments.