First off, Happy Earth Day to everyone. To celebrate the holiday, here are some links to interesting green school-related stories from around the continent:

• Students in Massachusetts, Florida, and Vancouver, British Columbia are making clothes and jewelry from recycled items. While I can't see the "Trashion" movement taking schools by storm anytime soon, it's a nice reminder that kids are applying the lessons they learn in the classroom to provide creative solutions for the world's environmental issues.
• WNEP.com has a good article on the misuse of the term "green" in marketing. We touched on the subject awhile back regarding green certification for furniture, so it's not exactly a new issue. That said, until the government regulates marketers looking to talk the talk without walking the walk, do your due diligence and check whether what you're buying is really as green as the label says.
• Finally, be sure to read the story of the buildup to the first Earth Day as told by founder Gaylord Nelson. Apparently the idea began with an initially unsuccessful national conservation tour by President John F. Kennedy in September 1963, and culminated in the holiday's successful debut in 1970 that "worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level... It organized itself."

In any case, enjoy the holiday, and don't forget that you can keep the celebration going year-round with your purchases and your actions.

A San Francisco area elementary school has adopted a new program designed to minimize gas use and maximize physical exercise for kids when they go to school. Instead of riding in a car, students get points and prizes for going to school by bike or on foot. Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) tags on bike helmets and backpacks help track point totals. Overall, it looks like an interesting program that creates friendly competition and gives kids a direct incentive to go green.

On a national scale, the EPA is testing the air at schools located near industrial facilities. According to the Chicago Tribune article, “air samples will be collected for about two months outside 62 schools, most of which are near large factories in 22 states.” It'll be interesting to see not only what the results are, but how the government and schools use the information to possibly effect change and improve air quality for students.

(Photo via Morguefile)

Got some old pairs of jeans that you can't wear anymore without getting cited for indecent exposure? If you live in Japan, you can make something new and useful with them: a recycled stool. Following in the footsteps of other green furniture makers while adding its own twist, sofa company NOyes can make an eco-friendly stool from 3 old pairs of jeans that you provide.

According to CScout Japan, the sofa costs ¥36,720 ($400) and takes about 3 weeks to finish. View the video to see how it's made.

(Photo via Morguefile)

Today we take a quick break from LEED certification, green schools and other recurring eco-issues in this blog to focus on what's really important: Candy. As you know, tomorrow is Halloween and that means you're making last minute preparations, whether it's picking up confections for trick-or-treaters or picking out a costume. But just because it's a holiday doesn't mean you have to take a break from going green. Try these easy and eco-friendly tips as you celebrate:

• Reduce Waste: Trick or treat with canvas bags, small plastic buckets with handles, or even a pillow case. This helps reduce the waste you create with disposable plastic and paper bags. At parties, use your regular cups instead of plastic and paper cups - just don't leave the faucet on too long when you're washing up afterward.
• Check Your Costume: Are you wearing a plastic costume that contains toxic PVCs? Can you re-use parts of this year's costume for future Halloweens? Are you wearing or using any paper or plastic products that you can recycle afterward? These are all valid questions to ask not only for this year, but for future years as you find ways to go green.
• Minimize the Packaging: I like putting out Snickers and other packaged candy for trick-or-treaters as much as anyone else, but remember that buying bags of them for Halloween eventually leads to more little wrappers going into landfills. Try baking cookies or handing out fruit, which comes with its own natural and biodegradable packaging.

(Photo via Morguefile)

Whether they go green or not, schools will always have teachers who lecture students on the importance of turning in their homework on time. But what happens when aspiring green schools can't even hand in their own assignments on time? The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article on institutions who pledge to reduce their carbon footprint through an agreement called the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Part of the commitment involves turning in paperwork that charts the greenhouse gases emitted from on-campus sources, which helps the signers figure out the measures they need to take to remedy their situations. Unfortunately, the process is very data-intensive and expensive, and only about half of the original 391 signers submitted their reports by the September 15 deadline. The CSM article notes that another 25% requested extensions, and I assume that the other 25% decided to drop out altogether.

So what does this mean? Not to generalize too much, but going green isn't just about spouting ideals - it's about doing what you have to do to help the planet. And oftentimes it means showing how much the environment (or your reputation) matters to you by opening up your wallet to get LEED-certified, or spending the time and resources to crunch the numbers and take the first step toward minimizing your carbon footprint. We've already mentioned some reasons for optimism that green living is more than just a passing fad in the eyes of individual citizens. Only time, patience, and maybe an expensive and expansive study or two will tell whether educational institutions and their corporate counterparts feel the same way.

(Photo via Morguefile)

These days, you read a lot about green schools and how they help reduce your eco-footprint while teaching students about the planet and what it takes to preserve it. The growing movement has led more institutions to install solar panels, buy green furniture, start school gardens, and embark on school-wide recycling campaigns, all in the name of attaining LEED certification or simply going greener. But the more I read, the more I wonder whether schools are pulling kids in too many directions in teaching them about their ecological responsibilities.

We addressed this issue a couple weeks ago in a post openly suggesting that schools may be putting too much of an emphasis on green education at the expense of reading, writing and math. But maybe the question isn't so much the level of emphasis we're putting on green education, as opposed to where educators are putting it. My gut feeling tells me that part of the problem the critics have with green education is the fact that it may be too unfocused in certain cases. So you may have teachers in a number of disciplines simply telling students to recycle paper or shut off the water in the faucet without being able to adequately explain the reasons for doing it.

Here's my suggestion - limit green education to science class. First off, as far as I can tell, eco-oriented lessons are essentially science lessons, since they deal with the planet and the interaction of beings and substances. This means you can incorporate them into biology, geology, or chemistry class without taking time away from other subjects that the critics may deem equally essential. Secondly, I believe students are more likely to remember real lessons as opposed to simple buzzwords or slogans based on circular reasoning. For example, a science teacher can tell students about what really goes on in the water cycle, or the real impact that contaminants and landfills have on wildlife.

So if kids learn that the long-term health consequences of polluting outweigh the initial convenience of carelessly throwing away their trash wherever they want, I'm guessing they'll be less likely to do it. However you decide to prioritize the environment in your curriculum, it's important to remember that words without meaning are like a house of cards. Don't skimp on the details - give children the tools they need to believe in what you preach, so they can practice it for the rest of their lives.

(Photo via Morguefile)

GreenerBuildings.com has reported that the US Conference of Mayors, a coalition of US cities represented by their mayors, has formed a new organization called the Mayors' Alliance for Green Schools. This eco-oriented offshoot aims to work with the US Green Building Council (USGBC) to make all US schools eco-friendly “within a generation.” As you'll recall, the USGBC is the organization that created LEED certification, one of the most well-known ways to show the public you're building and operating a sustainable building. The new alliance plans to partner with local businesses in helping schools to start gardens and recycle. Other objectives include implementing more state-level incentives for going green and promoting awareness of environmental issues and sustainable schools through “national dialogue.”

Will it work? Personally, I think the Mayors' Alliance for Green Schools is a step in the right direction. Positive public exposure almost never hurts, and I'm hopeful that the new organization's cumulative political influence can induce more states, cities and communities to adopt green incentives for schools and other entities. But change won't happen overnight, so expect green school advocates and lawmakers to take their time before they're officially on the same page, word, and letter.

(Photo via Morguefile)

Going along with the idea of a green movement driven by students, TheStreet.com talks about a group of seniors at Yarmouth High School (ME) who got a state grant worth around $26,000 to assist in making their building solar-powered. Of course, you have plenty of other more affordable options for greening your school, but it just goes to show that passionate people who find support from the right organizations and corporations can accomplish some pretty impressive objectives. Some interesting numbers seem to support the idea that it pays to get LEED certification for your school building - according to the aforementioned TheStreet.com article, a 2007 report concludes that the long-term savings of converting a building to meet state- or LEED-certification standards outweigh the costs by about $71/sq. ft./year. I'm not sure whether this includes the costs from getting someone to inspect and actually certify your project, so the number may be a little lower in reality.

Of course, you can't always take numbers at their face value, especially considering that a principal of the firm that did the study is pretty closely affiliated with LEED. At the same time, it helps quantify the overall benefits of a very respected green building certification for schools with the patience and the resources to undertake a renovation or all-new building project. Hopefully an impartial observer can conduct a relatively comprehensive study and give us all a better idea of what green certification can do for schools. I'd like to see some kind of calculator that shows you your savings after you enter in different variables, including characteristics of your current school building, your budget, etc. Until then, I'm skeptical that anyone can truly know whether it makes sense to formally go green until they go ahead and take the plunge.

(Photo via Morguefile)

We already talked about how parents and teachers are leading the green revolution in schools and at home, but a recent article in the New York Times points to a slightly different dynamic in the diffusion of green knowledge. From coast to coast, it seems that teachers in the US are emphasizing the importance of going green to students, who then enthusiastically spread the word to their parents. Many parents seem to embrace their children's new-found eco-awareness, but sometimes it goes a little too far.

Of course, children don't have to worry about family finances, so they tell their parents to buy hybrids, shut off the water on a dime, recycle every shred of paper and piece of plastic, compost the garbage, and install solar panels, all with a clear conscience. The real trouble seems to come when their tone gets a little too authoritative, especially when they start preaching to neighbors and strangers alike. With the teachers at school emphasizing the importance of going green in every way you can, it's no wonder that impressionable youngsters would absorb the lessons they learn and attempt to apply them as often as possible. But according to the article, the rising popularity of an eco-centric curriculum puzzles observers who feel that tax money should go toward reading, math, and raising standardized test scores. So who's right?

I'm pleading the fifth on that particular question, but I do have a general opinion. Personally, teaching kids to go green and take care of their planet makes a lot of sense, especially since it'll be their world to protect in the near future. At the same time, it may be a little excessive to fund extravagant, in-depth green school educational programs at the expense of teaching children the basic reading, writing and math skills they need to survive. I'll take my children knowing only the basics of recycling and green living if it means they know a whole lot more about how to take care of themselves as adults. But as someone who isn't living in the middle of the fray, I can't definitively tell you how it should be. So if you're a teacher or a parent with an opinion on the issue, feel free to leave a comment.

(Photo via Morguefile)

If you haven't read it already, the Washington Times has an editorial on green schools and the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public Schools Facilities Act (H.R. 3021) written by William Spears, CEO of Energy Education Inc. According to the piece, the proposed legislation would help fund greener and more energy-efficient public school building projects in the wake of rising energy prices that have unceremoniously pinched the pocketbooks of educational institutions across the country. It's already passed the House but hasn't gone through the Senate yet, and Spears basically writes that schools can't afford to wait for the government to act before they go green. He recommends organizing students and staff in your school and finding ways to conserve energy by changing your everyday usage and behavior.

Spears notes that the main source of the delay in the legislation is partisan politics - Democrats think the government needs to spend money now in order to effect change while Republicans are reluctant to loosen the purse strings for a speculative program that may take awhile to have any real effect on costs and overall sustainability in schools. Of course, time is money, and you'll certainly spend a lot of it in trying to mobilize your entire student body and faculty toward their eco-friendly objective. Those who truly feel committed to going green in-house can even hire Spears' Energy Education Inc. for some professional advice on energy conservation, although you may wish you'd just spent some of that money to get your school building LEED-certified in the first place.

In all seriousness though, I agree with what Spears has to say about saving energy and going green on your own without waiting for the cavalry to arrive. We've offered our own tips on going green for the new school year, as well as links where you can educate yourself for free. In the end, the amount of money you save and how green you can really go depends on you and how committed you are to effecting change in your school. So get on the web or read some literature and see what you can do today to provide a healthier, eco-friendlier future for your students. Whether you eventually hire the experts or formulate a plan on your own, it never hurts to learn as much as you can before you take the next step.

(Photo via Free Photos Bank)

We hear a lot about schools going green by getting their buildings LEED-certified, planting school gardens, or even going tray-less in the cafeteria. But where do educators and students around the world find new ideas for keeping their classrooms eco-friendly? According to a survey conducted in the UK, the answer may lie in the same place we seem to find everything else these days: the Internet. The results indicate that nearly half the teachers in Wales believe that “blogging and social networking can help pupils learn about the environment.” The survey itself comes as part of a nationwide effort designed to educate students about the environment and make a positive green impact leading up to the 2012 Olympics in London.

The program features a unique website called the Pod, which provides information and activities for students and teachers to complete in their quest for eco-enlightenment. Participants blog about their progress with projects that include regularly shutting off the lights and riding a bike to school. They can earn different medals based on how much work they put into their project and their blog. Overall, it looks like a specially tailored information hub where the youth can connect and learn from each other.

So does a site like the Pod make sense for schools looking to go green? Sure, students and teachers can start their own blogs and take the time to connect with other like-minded individuals via targeted searches, but central sites pre-designed for the needs of eco-minded schools save you time and effort in finding what you need. Obviously no one on the Pod is going to be a licensed expert on sustainable schools, but central online information hubs provide a valuable place to see what other institutions are doing and to gain motivation for making your own school even greener. So whether your school sits in a well-connected metro area or in an isolated village, online communities provide a 24/7 source of fresh ideas that can help you reduce your ecological footprint without having to spring for a LEED-certified science building.

Image: Free Photos Bank

As the green school movement gains steam, more states around the country are funding school building projects in the hopes of getting LEED certified. Add West Virginia to the growing list of LEED hopefuls with the impending construction of the state's first green public school in Berkeley County. The West Virginia School Building Authority (SBA) has commissioned $11 million for the project and is prepared to authorize more if needed.

Sources close to the project expect significant energy savings from the new building. In addition, potential eco-friendly features include automated water faucets and a special heating and cooling system that uses subterranean temperatures to minimize costs. Educators plan to use these features as an educational tool to promote eco-awareness among students. Overall, it looks like an interesting development in a region not always known for cutting-edge architecture, and on a national level, it'll be interesting to see whether this new school and other buildings around the country seeking LEED certification can stay the course and attain true sustainability.

(Photo via Morguefile)

In the spirit of Enviroware replacing styrofoam lunch trays in North Carolina schools, several schools and colleges in Ohio are getting rid of lunch trays altogether in an effort to go green in the cafeteria. Instead of smaller plates heaped on a tray, students now use one large plate for all their food. Proponents of the move point to the savings in water and energy used to clean the trays, as well as less food wasted from spills that presumably occur in between the smaller plates and due to students feeling they have more room for error when they use a tray. According to the article in the Beacon Journal, some of the schools say food waste has dropped by 50% since the inception of tray-less lunches.

Besides concerns that big plates full of hot food could burn the hands of students who have to hold them directly, the move sounds like a safe and budget-friendly way to make cafeterias more eco-friendly, assuming schools aren't buying new big plates to replace the trays. Not all green schools have the funds or the resolve to spring for LEED® certified buildings or elaborate school gardens, so virtually costless measures can make a lot of sense when it comes to PR, school spirit, and teaching students to help the environment in any way they can. Only time will tell whether it actually works, although I wonder whether anyone will be checking once the novelty wears off.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It looks like the Princeton Review's new green school rankings have created another heated arena in which Harvard, Yale and Princeton compete for supremacy and top students. Harvard and Yale earned perfect scores of 99 while Princeton scored an impressive 94 on a scale based on sustainability and environmental impact on campus. We've talked about colleges and their efforts to go green in previous posts, and these rankings provide the first quantitative evaluations that I've seen. Two main points stuck out to me from this story:

• First, the motivating factor behind creating the rankings themselves apparently came from a Princeton Review Survey of 10,000 high school students where 63% said that an eco-friendly environment would weigh heavily in where they decided to apply and attend. Once again, it speaks to the growing environmental awareness of the next generation, and it also indicates that schools may want to continue focusing on staying sustainable if they want to have their pick of the nation's best and brightest.
• On a related note, Princeton has apparently made a commitment to get every new building that it builds LEED® certified. In addition, the school plans to reduce overall emissions to where they were in 1990 by 2020. Talk about turning back the clock to take a step forward.

(Photo via Morguefile)

Green school housing has taken on a whole new meaning at Yale, where a grad student named Elizabeth Turnbull has built her own eco-friendly home with the help of volunteers. We've talked about green school building projects, green college dorms, and the increasing popularity of getting LEED® certified, but it's pretty interesting to see a student go ahead and build her own sustainable home from scratch.

The 8'x18' house has cost about $10,000 so far and has a living room, small bedroom, kitchen, work area, and "bathroom with composting toilet," which brings to mind the Oberlin Seed House. While it's not exactly a mansion, the 13' high ceiling should provide plenty of clearance for Turnbull's 6' tall frame. Other interesting green features include "soy-based insulation, environmentally friendly paint and a countertop made from recycled glass." So is it a gimmick, or will Ms. Turnbull's house really help the environment? I don't pretend to know what the building's definitive carbon footprint will be, but Turnbull plans to use her living space to educate children in New Haven, which can only raise awareness and help to make the case for greener schools and the benefits of green furniture on a local and nationwide level.

(Photo via Morguefile)

We've covered how more schools are constructing and renovating LEED® certified building projects to create a more sustainable environment for students and staff. But is your school ready to join the movement for greener schools? The US Green Building Council, a non-profit that created LEED certification, has an informative new website called Build Green Schools that tells you about the benefits of going green through content, slideshows and videos. It also talks about the LEED for Schools rating system, one of the 7 project-specific rating systems through which buildings can get LEED certified.

Besides all that, you can read about other schools that are going green and getting LEED certified under the LEED for Schools rating system. BuildGreenSchools.org even has a Google Maps application that shows you where you can find schools that have gone green with LEED all over the country. It's definitely an interesting website for schools looking to attain LEED certification or go green in their own way, especially if they're not exactly sure where to start. Either way, there's no denying that LEED's popularity has reached an all-time high, so the site is certainly worth a look.

(Photo via Morguefile)

Recycled furniture comes from a number of sources and manifests itself in all shapes and sizes, so it's no surprise to find a post on Inhabitat highlighting a new collection made from old skateboards. It's called Skate Study House and it ranges from chairs with skateboard seating to bookshelves with skateboard frames to funky clocks with skateboard wheels marking every hour.

So should we expect any skateboard-themed recycled furniture to roll into a green school near you anytime soon? Probably not. I'm guessing educators would rather have green furniture that doesn't compel students to daydream during class about what they're doing after class. Nevertheless, the collection looks like a pretty cool way for eco-activists to show their style and do something good for the environment at the same time.

(Photo via Morguefile)

Green schools need more than a task force and a dream to make themselves sustainable. Some green schools devote entire buildings to sustainability, while other green schools renovate their buildings to attain LEED® certification. Others, like schools in Mount Airy, NC, are going green in the lunchroom by replacing potentially harmful styrofoam lunch trays with a biodegradable material called Enviroware. According to the article in the Mount Airy News, styrofoam takes a few decades to break down in the environment, contains carcinogens, and can clog up an unsuspecting animal's digestive system. On the other hand, Enviroware should break down completely in about 9 months and is non-toxic.

The Mount Airy News also reports that Enviroware only costs about a penny more per tray than styrofoam, making it even easier to go green in a tough economy. Of course, if the school system feels especially progressive, maybe they can take the plunge and get some eco-friendly lunch tables to complete their next renovation. But regardless of how far green schools are willing to go to set a sustainable example for the community, the news from Mount Airy once again illustrates that it doesn't always take a big commitment to make the planet a cleaner, greener place.

Sometimes going green means putting in the extra effort it takes to live off the fat of the land. More specifically, a school in the UK is actually growing and cooking its own food. In addition to bringing students and teachers back to their hunter-gatherer roots, Slathwaite CofE Junior and Infant School has its own “pond, wildlife area, den and firepit.” This self-sufficient system can help keep the school sustainable by reducing waste from packaging used to preserve processed food, as well as conserving some of the energy used to keep food refrigerated. In addition, the wildlife area and garden can teach children important lessons about preserving the Earth's natural resources through hands-on education.

School gardens are also pretty prevalent in the US, as evidenced by a quick search on the kidsgardening.org registry. But is your school ready to take the plunge and start your own sanctuary? The scale of your garden will probably depend on the size of your student body, the climate, available space and your budget, but you don't have to subsist on what you grow or create an expansive wildlife preserve for students to benefit from the experience. Start small and go to the local nursery, buy some seeds and supplies, and have your students grow them. The class can learn about science and personal responsibility from cultivating their own plants, and you may even improve oxygen flow in the classroom. And combined with green school furniture products, you can create a sustainable, healthy environment that potentially leads to getting your school LEED® certified. In any case, every bit of conservation you accomplish can help the environment and ultimately leave a lasting educational impact on the future leaders of the green movement.

(Photo via Morguefile)

So we know that people are willing to weather the rough economy and buy green in order to go green, even if it costs a little more. But what if you could go green and still save green? With only a short time before a new school year starts, here are some eco-friendly and budget-friendly tips for buying green school furniture:

1. Buy from a company which specifically uses factories or distribution facilities closest to your location. The closer to the factory or distribution point you are, the better chance you'll have of saving on the shipping costs.
2. Buy multiple rooms of furniture at one time instead of ordering one room at a time over an extended period. Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway), multiple shipments force trucks and other shipping vehicles to use more gas than they'd use for one trip to deliver a single shipment. And if you order in bulk, you're more likely to save money as well.
3. Contact other schools in your area, order your school furniture together at one time, and have it shipped to a single local spot where everyone can pick up their products. Again, combining your orders means less gas expended into the atmosphere as vehicles transport and deliver your furniture, since everything goes to one address instead of multiple addresses.
4. Find out the factory's policy on packaging. Do you they use popcorn, bubble wrap, or greener shrink wrap? Shrink wrap creates less waste than many other packaging options, so see what you can do to make a positive environmental impact every time you order.
5. Learn about your manufacturers and find out what materials they use. For example, facility floor mats made by the Andersen Company feature recycled content in their rubber backing. Just like you, many green furniture manufacturers care about the environment and offer products that contribute to a sustainable way of life for everyone, including students, teachers and parents. Identify green brands and support them through your patronage.

(Photo via Morguefile)

Feeling a little skeptical about whether the green furniture industry can survive rising gas prices and the tough economy? We wrote about how the green movement has a bright future in theory, but numbers would certainly help reinforce a potentially contentious point. Environmental Leader has an interesting post summarizing a survey conducted by Yale and GfK Roper that suggests consumers still place plenty of importance on sustainability. Based on phone responses from over 2000 Americans, nearly 40% said they'd spend 15% more for green wood furniture. Even more tellingly, respondents appeared to show equal willingness to spend extra on eco-friendly furniture regardless of how strongly the economic pinch has affected them.

Sure, it's only 2000 people, but it lends a little extra credence to the sentiment that going green is more than just a passing fad. The results also remind us that if we're intent on going green with our school furniture and other purchases, it's important to check the legitimacy of green certification labels. Look for more green certification programs to follow LEED®'s lead and opt for third party status to gain more credence among a growing group of consumers intent on making a tangible sustainable imprint on the Earth with their purchases.

Back in May, I wrote about Oberlin College's Seed House, a green residence hall designed to help students conserve energy and resources on an everyday basis. But if you thought Seed House was the only on-campus initiative around, Sarah Lawrence College, Wake Forest, Rollins College, UCSD and a number of other universities would have you know that they're doing their part to help out the environment. It seems like institutions of higher learning are really taking one of two approaches to the growing demand for sustainable living and learning environments: either spend money on renovations, green products and building projects to attain LEED certification or save money by organizing recycling drives and creating eco-friendly dorms where students police their own energy and resource use.

So what's the best way for colleges to respond in the face of growing peer pressure to go green? On one hand, it makes sense for colleges like Sarah Lawrence and Oberlin to save money and let the demand dictate the supply of greener housing. Students can designate certain dorms as eco-conscious and encourage each other to compost, save water, conserve electricity, and monitor their everyday behavior to promote sustainability within the cozy confines of on- or off-campus residence halls. If it turns out that going green is more than just a passing fad and more students want green furniture, LEED certification for school buildings, and larger investments in a more sustainable campus, the college can then assess its budget and entertain more ambitious initiatives.

On the other hand, colleges can already see the high demand for on-campus sustainability based on the growing multitude of student-initiated activities, projects and programs, as well as the significant steps taken by their peer institutions in response. Many schools, especially private colleges with wealthy alumni and large endowments, can probably afford to take the plunge and move forward with a LEED-certified building project or a larger scale effort to purchase green furniture and other eco-friendly products. As Megan K. Scott's AP article suggests, doing so could actually attract more students from the growing pool interested in helping out the environment. In any case, schools and colleges need to do their homework in the years ahead to decide whether or not it's worth it to jump on the green bandwagon. And they need to do it soon, or they may risk losing out on incoming tuition from prospective students and donations from future and current alumni wondering when their alma mater will finally get with the program.

These days, activists and educators alike talk about the health benefits of going green at school. But even if you reduce air pollutants or conserve energy enough to prevent serious health problems, any lingering environmental issues can still affect children when it comes to academic performance. William E. Roberson of the Fort Wayne (IN) Journal Gazette cites recent studies that suggest students perform better in green, sustainable school environments.

Of course, numbers don't always tell the whole story. For example, maybe schools that can afford to go green can also afford better educational resources and more qualified teachers for their students, which in turn may lead to better academic performance. At the same time, it's not hard to imagine that breathing in formaldehyde from a less-than-green school desk or taking a test with the air conditioner on at full blast can affect a student's concentration.

So what's the best way to keep your classroom green and your students bright-eyed and attentive? Ask them what they think. You can ask questions about how you could help them feel more comfortable in class, hand out surveys, or even set up an in-class roundtable discussion where everyone suggests ways to make the classroom green, such as bringing in plants to improve oxygen flow or setting up cleanup crews to regularly sweep up dust and keep the room spic and span. Whatever you do to make your classroom greener, keep students involved and let them take ownership over their classroom environment so they can breathe their best and do their best.

Despite the tough economy, schools across the nation are hard at work this summer on building and interior renovations as well as maintenance work, according to the Washington Post. Much of the work involves additions, rug and window replacement, and other traditional tuneups to school buildings. But educational institutions like Vansville Elementary in Beltsville, MD are spending big to make their buildings as green and eco-friendly as possible. This new school will open in the fall with equipment that saves energy and minimizes carbon emissions. It's reminiscent of the Greensburg tornado victims seeking eventual LEED certification for their yet-to-be-built high school, only without the tragic circumstances to precede it.

The green movement in school construction demonstrates the growing sentiment among educators that if you're going to build a new school, you may as well build it right and make it sustainable. But just because your school building wasn't built green doesn't mean you can't make it green. Here are some quick tips:

• Maintain high air quality standards: Air quality often starts and ends with the kind of school furniture you buy. When you shop for school desks, classroom chairs and other new furniture, check for green certification labels which show that the furniture materials don't emit harmful chemicals like formaldehyde into the air. Remember to look for third party certified products if possible.
• Minimize solid waste: One way to minimize waste is to get students and staff to recycle. Either buy a recycle bin or re-tool an old box or large container for the job. Also, encourage students to bring a lunch box or reusable lunch bag to school so they're not throwing away a paper bag a day. And if you have the funds, buy recycled and green-certified furniture. Recycled school furniture helps close the loop of large items going straight to the landfill, and green-certified furniture and markerboards can help keep the air clean for everyone to breathe.
• Conserve Energy: Remember to switch off your computers, lights and other electronic equipment when you're done with them. To save time and make the task easier, buy power strips so you can plug in a bunch of equipment and turn it all on and off with one switch. Also, curtains, blinds and shades can help you save energy in your classroom by keeping it insulated in the winter and blocking out temperature-raising light in the warmer months.

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Most importantly, this product contains recycled content, which means less waste in your local landfill. So pick up an eco-friendly newspaper rack today to add some green elegance to wherever you work or live.

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Last month, we talked about how third party green certification provides the most trustworthy assurance in theory that you're buying truly green furniture because one party makes the product, a second party sets a green standard, and a third party certifies the product if it meets the green standard. And now LEED, originally a second party certification for green buildings, has decided to take the next step and upgrade to third party certification status starting in January 2009. This means that US Green Building Council (USGBC), the developer of LEED certification, will cede its certification duties to independent parties trained and overseen by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). With LEED becoming more popular than ever, the USGBC wants to meet the growing demand by "outsourcing" its esteemed green seal of approval.

But is there really such a thing as third party certification? GBCI is still basically a "sister nonprofit corporation" to USGBC according to the article posted on the Environmental News Network (ENN), and both nonprofits will train certain firms to "manage the [certification] process." The ENN post also notes that while both organizations are "legally distinct and have separate boards of directors," they do have the same senior management. So despite the headlines, don't expect USGBC to be able to completely separate itself from the certification side of LEED, at least not right away. Regardless, the industry trusts LEED a great deal and the move toward a more distinct third party certification process should add to its credibility and ultimately increase demand even more.

(Photo courtesy of bigfoto)

Green furniture certification plays a major role in helping us to decide what to buy. We've mentioned how LEED certification has stepped to the forefront as one of the most popular green certifications out there, whether you're talking about sustainable buildings in New York City or aspiring green schools starting from scratch. Now we get word that the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the originator and developer of LEED, has plans to move its headquarters to a more spacious Washington, DC location as more and more buildings look to go green.

According to CoStar Realty, the USGBC plans to increase office space by over 200% on the heels of a tenfold increase in the nonprofit's membership since LEED was introduced at the turn of the millennium. John Tepper Marlin of the Huffington Post writes that LEED's popularity stems in part from its multi-tiered system with lower levels that make certification sufficiently attainable for many projects and higher levels that present a true challenge for more serious green developers.

So will the USGBC aim to renovate its new space at the same level of sustainability as the building projects that seek LEED certification? According to CoStar, the USGBC will seek LEED Platinum certification, which represents the highest available sustainable level. Look for the move to conclude sometime in Spring 2009.

(Photo courtesy of FreePhotosBank)

One key to making greener furniture comes through in the old adage "Waste not, want not." And in the case of flat pack furniture, it means using less material to create comfortable, durable and viable chairs and tables. We touched on the concept of the Real Good Chair and how it folds flat to minimize packaging and ultimately reduce waste. Flat pack furniture follows similar principles, but focuses more on the piece itself than the box it comes in.

The eco-friendly catalog of greener compact furniture includes desks and laptop stands made from a single piece of plywood, a fold up bookcase, and even an emergency shelter that looks like a cross between a 3D jigsaw puzzle and a set of giant Lincoln Logs.

Flat pack furniture seems to affirm that with the planet's limited resources and space straining under the demands of a growing population, less is ultimately more. Look for manufacturers to adopt more of these unique green design principles once the costs of mass production drop down to a sustainable level.

When you shop for green furniture, does an official-looking label convince you to buy the product to which it's affixed? Consumers looking to go green need to do their homework and find out what a label really means instead of simply taking the manufacturer's word for it. BuildingGreen.com offers a comprehensive article entitled Behind the Logos: Understanding Green Product Certifications that sheds a lot of light on green furniture labels and what they really mean.

One major issue lies with who actually does the certifying. As the article notes, it's important to ask if there's a conflict of interest involved. First party declarations include general green claims and product specs developed by the manufacturer without any independent testing. Unless you know and understand exactly how the maker made the furniture and where the wood came from, it doesn't make much sense to place blind faith in what amounts to simple marketing language written in an authoritative format.

Second party certifications involve trade associations or an outside consultant setting standards and checking up on first party claims. However, the closed loop where a single body sets and tests its own standards makes the process less transparent and more questionable. Overall, third party certifications represent your best bet for truly green furniture because an independent party certifies the product based on a standard set by another party.

It seems that the biggest obstacle for green furniture certifications to overcome involves the multitude of standards and certifications out there. With so many independent voices whispering in your ear, you get confused and either buy something that's not really good for the environment, or you get skeptical and don't buy anything. Either way, the planet suffers. Moving forward, industry experts hope that the EPA and trusted measuring systems like LEED can step forward and help create more uniform and trustworthy standards and certifications. But until that day comes, consumers need to study up on trusted green certifications, find what they like, and make an educated decision when they shop.

(Photo courtesy of FreePhotosBank.com)

College provides ample opportunities outside the classroom to learn about going green. And what better way to learn about living green than to actually do it yourself? Oberlin College's Seed House provides an interesting example of how people can live in a simple, eco-friendly environment that looks a lot like your typical college dorm.

The main differences between Seed House and most dorms seem to be the low-flow faucets and other simple water-saving devices like an hourglass shower timer that looks like it came out of a Boggle box. The worm-filled composting bin looks like a winner as well, at least for those with strong stomachs. Overall, Seed House appears to gently encourage guests and residents to live green in simple, inexpensive ways without feeling like a restrictive bio-dome.

So how can Seed House make more of a splash moving forward? If Oberlin loosens the purse-strings in the future, maybe Seed House can buy some recycled or biodegradable furniture for the common room. Residents might also want to look into making their own cardboard furniture if they don't mind sacrificing some durability and style points. In any case, Seed House looks like a nice idea that should expose future generations to the benefits of going green on a daily basis.

(Photo courtesy of FreePhotosBank.com)

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” It's an old saying that reminds us how we all end up just as we began, but it also sums up the idealism behind the growing market for biodegradable furniture. Material that decomposes into dust sounds like a nice alternative to recycled furniture. However, as Penelope Green writes in her article Biodegradable Home Product Lines, Ready to Rot, how can we be sure that biodegradable furniture is truly biodegradable?

As Green suggests, many people think that biodegradable furniture magically disappears once it goes into a landfill. But experts warn that the process doesn't happen right away and that engineered landfills may actually slow down the decomposition process even more. BeHealthyandRelax.com has an interesting list of waste products and how long they take to decompose. Apparently lumber takes 10-15 years to decompose, meaning that if I throw away my desk today, I'll be having my midlife crisis by the time it completely breaks down.

In the end, the concept of biodegradable furniture could very well turn out to be nothing more than a marketing ploy intended to cash in on the growing market for all things green. I personally think that instead of looking for buzzwords, consumers should search for third party certifications made by esteemed organizations. Because if no one can really define what “biodegradable furniture” means, you probably can't either.

(Photo via Morguefile)

Friends of green furniture and foes of formaldehyde have a new cause to support as the EPA considers a petition to restrict formaldehyde emissions from engineered wood products and certain building materials. Formaldehyde is a colorless gas that comes from glues and certain wood products and can potentially cause cancer. The petition comes one year after California adopted California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations that put a tight cap on formaldehyde emissions from engineered wood products. In essence, the petitioners want the EPA to apply the CARB regulations nationwide.

The proposal should face stiff opposition from domestic manufacturers looking to do business nationwide. While CARB's regulations only cover California, wider-ranging restrictions on commonly-used materials in wood furniture could essentially handcuff domestic furniture makers and force them to start from square one. On the other hand, the petitioners would argue that it shouldn't take the threat of regulations for furniture manufacturers to clean up their act.

If the petition does go through, wary industry professionals also suspect that the EPA will focus too much on violations by easier-to-monitor domestic companies and let foreign competitors slip through the cracks. A definitive decision on the petition should come by June 21 as environmentalists and furniture makers wait with bated breath. Until then, furniture affixed with trusted third party certifications may represent your best bet in the search for low emission furniture for your school or office.

(Photo via Morguefile)

Does the green movement have staying power, or will it fade into obscurity over time? Eco-activists tell us we need to live green and buy green for the sake of future generations. And according to Andrea Ford's article Growing Up Green, our children may very well possess the knowledge and the optimism to carry the eco-friendly torch well into the 21st century. Ford notes that kids can learn environmentally responsible philosophies and practices from their parents, then take it a step further with their “brilliant naïveté.”

But learning doesn't just take place at home. Ford provides some informative links that school teachers can use to educate students about the environment and what it means to live green. For example, the EPA has an Environmental Kids Club with resources for middle school students, high school students, and teachers.

It just goes to show that if we lead by example, the next generation may take the initiative and do what it takes to keep the planet clean and green.

(Photo via Morguefile)

Reduced packaging represents one way manufacturers and retailers can green their furniture. But if you ship chairs and tables in pieces, how do you minimize packaging without making the components too difficult to assemble once they're out of the box? Bludot provides a unique solution: make the components foldable. The piece featured in the video above is the Real Good Chair, a steel contraption that packs flat and folds along perforated lines during assembly. The chair looks like it comes with a tool to help you fold at the proper angles, making assembly even easier.

So would you buy one for your school or office? Probably not, although those who like to think outside the box may tolerate the Real Good Chair's sharp, polygonal design for its forest-friendly packaging. Regardless of your preferences, it's safe to say that not even an upholstered folding chair affords you the same opportunity to practice full-metal origami as the Real Good Chair.

When it comes to recycled furniture, there are three kinds to keep in mind:

1. Furniture that contains fully processed recycled content you can't see anymore
2. Furniture made of recycled components you can still see
3. Furniture that actually is the old furniture (i.e. what you find when you dumpster-dive)

It's sort of like if you saw a shark at the aquarium with outlines of all the fish it ate sticking out of its sides. Kind of strange and maybe unsettling, but it would definitely confirm that you are what you eat. WebUrbanist.com recently put up a post covering innovative furniture where you can actually see the recycled content in its entirety. From chairs with legs and armrests made from shopping carts to light fixtures made from old fluorescent light tubes, these recycled pieces leave nothing to the imagination.

My personal favorite is the sofa made from a cross section of a bath tub featured on Reestore.com. Its name is Max and it costs £2400 ($4672.79 US). Not exactly affordable for many of us, but it goes to show that it costs a lot to make anyone or anything reveal their true essence.

A week or two ago, we mentioned a site that shows you how to go green by designing your own cardboard chair. But if you're a serious designer with a competitive streak, the One Good Chair competition offers $4500 for an innovative, eco-friendly "lounge chair or similar casual seating." Registration costs $50 due on May 16, 2008, although late registration stretches until May 30 for an extra $25. Once you register, you have until 7 PM EST on June 9, 2008 to submit your contest materials.

So when can you expect to hear back? The winner(s) get notified sometime in mid July 2008 with full recognition coming at the awards ceremony in Las Vegas on July 30. So read the rules, register, and get to work. The future of eco-friendly design depends on you.

Do you know where the wood in your table or chair comes from? It's a natural question to ask yourself if you're serious about living green through the furniture you buy. As you might guess, a lot of wood used in your furniture comes from carbon dioxide-absorbent trees cut down en masse in faraway countries, which might give you pause before buying if you knew about it. James Kanter of the International Herald Tribune reports in his article EU seeks green label for wood furniture that EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas wants to propose a regulation that would require importers and retailers of wood products to report how they got the wood and where they're planning to send it.

As Kanter mentions, a number of importers and retailers already put stickers on their wood products telling you whether the woodchoppers felled the trees in a sustainable way. Unfortunately, products made from sustainably chopped trees often cost significantly more than than those that aren't, making it harder for eco-aware consumers to choose a greener alternative. The proposed EU regulation looks like an attempt by a well-meaning government to regulate a market that won't regulate itself. If it does go through, the proposal faces the inevitable challenge of balancing its ideals with reality. Activists want stringent regulations that ultimately choke off the illegal logging trade, while furniture and wood products retailers naturally hope any impending requirements leave enough wiggle room to keep their showrooms well-stocked.

In any event, the proposal should come sometime later this month. French environment minister Jean-Louis Borloo has already pledged his support, and with France set to begin a 6 month term as president of the EU this summer, unscrupulous loggers should get ready to fight an uphill battle for the foreseeable future.

(Photo via Morguefile)

When it comes to defining what makes green furniture "green," most people in the know would say it's all about the low emissions materials, recycled content, reduced-content packaging, cardboard siding and other eco-friendly features. But how do you pick out the best green furniture from the rest? SmartPlanet.com asked a few designers to pick their favorite green furniture from 2007 and ended up with an interesting Top Five List.

The list includes four chairs and a coffee table, none of which you'll likely find in your friend's living room anytime soon unless you roll with upper-class eco-activists. But they do look pretty cool and reflect a growing design trend that emphasizes form and function. Personally, I like the AfterGlow Armless Double Bench. The AfterGlow is an outdoor bench with a sturdy frame and sharp, smooth features that give it a modern look. It's made from 100% recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic collected from old milk jugs. That and the hefty $699 price tag mean you can't get much greener when it comes to outdoor furniture.

Overall, the list is an eye-opener for green furniture fans looking for top of the line products. While the fab five probably won't hit the mainstream market anytime soon, it's nice to know that furniture can look good and do good too.

Green furniture fans can give you three reasons to use cardboard as a building material:

• It's cheap.
• It saves trees compared to traditional wood.
• It's lightweight, so you can move it around more easily.

The Terramia blog showcases a wide range of cardboard projects, from lamps to chairs to benches. And if you feel like making your own cardboard chair, artist Andrew Senior has posted an FAQ that provides step-by-step instructions. It probably won't look as nice as a chair made by a professional designer, but it should prove an interesting challenge for amateur furniture makers looking to go green.

For eco-aware pet owners, Everyday Studio sells pet furniture made from cardboard. From cat scratching posts to napping spots, people looking to pamper their pets have some stylish options that contain lower tree content.

Cardboard furniture may raise some durability concerns compared to thicker, traditional furniture, but the innovative designs and materials may give it just enough legs to make it into the mainstream.

GREENGUARD™ certified school furniture has stepped to the forefront of educators' agendas as schools aim to gain LEED certification and keep students healthy with low-emissions products. But electronics such as computers and printers can emit harmful particles as well, and last summer's uproar over the potential danger of laser printer emissions raised enough concern to prompt a public response from major manufacturer Hewlett Packard. Now nonprofit GREENGUARD Environmental Institute (GEI) has stepped up and started the only electronics certification program in the United States. As a result, consumers can now look for the familiar GREENGUARD™ label on electronics and know they're buying a product made with the environment in mind.

Lenovo's M57/M57P Eco is the first computer to earn the new electronic emissions certification. Factor in the increasing selection of green workstations available to school and corporate consumers and you can now make your whole computer lab, classroom, or office certifiably eco-friendly. While one is the loneliest number for now, look for GREENGUARD's newest program to expand as manufacturers appreciate the growing demand for sustainable school and office products.

'Go Green.' Whether you're shopping for low-emissions school furniture or cruising around the block in your Prius, it sounds simple enough to do. So why do retail websites make you sift through entire product lines to separate the green school furniture from the regular furniture? It's like having to fill out all those complicated forms during tax season - you get hassled for doing your civic duty.

US Markerboard Green takes all the guesswork out of preserving the environment with an all-green catalog. Browse our product categories, which include top-of-the-line boards, supplies, equipment and furniture. All products are made and designed with the environment in mind, and many feature recycled content or carry GREENGUARD™ certification for their low emissions materials. In fact, GREENGUARD™ certified products can help your school or office building attain the LEED certification that a growing number of states and localities require by law.

For more background on the benefits of going green with US Markerboard Green, visit our Information page. In addition, we'll keep this blog updated with in-depth product profiles, tips on going green, and other interesting and relevant information. So make US Markerboard Green your first and last stop when you shop for green school furniture. We look forward to teaming up with you to make the planet a cleaner and healthier place.