National 2007 Go Green Earth Summit School Environmental Conference

On Saturday November 3, 2007, I attended the Go Green Earth Summit School Environmental Conference held at the Marriott Hotel. The main purpose of the conference:

Learn how schools can go green with:

• Recycling
• Composting and Worm Composting
• Green Buying
• Funding for Green Programs
• School Gardens
• Water, energy, and waste conservation
• Environmental Education
• Connecting Children with Nature

Learn about the Go Green Initiative for schools.

Thanks to the mayor vision of a greener San Jose, many pilot programs towards a green vision are able to take flight. One of the most hopeful programs that the City of San Jose is involved in is the Go Green Initiative. The conference was a success to help educate teachers, parents, students, and school faculty on ways that they can do around their classes or schools become more green.

I not only attended the session on Zero Waste for schools but was involved in creating the presentation. In the session, we set up clearstreams for attendees to view. There are four container: garbage, bottle and cans, paper, and compost. The first presenter, Leah Lowrie, focused on zero wasting schools. Her PowerPoint presentation was strait forward. She had examples of compostable food serviceware that schools can use. For the most part, her main goal was to explain the concept to to teachers, students, and parents.

The second presenter was Jerry Nelson. He is an intern for the City of San Jose and is involved in the Go Green Initiative. His presentation talked mainly on the pilot program that is occurring in a San Jose school. Fortunately, many family members at the school have been very receptive to greening the campus. Paper, being the number one waste generated at schools are generally not recycled. The program that Jerry is involved in brings out containers to schools and helps educated teachers, custodial staff, and students on how they can take part on their campus.

I believe that the conference was a success. Many teacher were very excited about the new information they learned. They learned skills on how to make recycling more interactive and how to get parents involved from home just by packing lunches that do not generate unrecyclable garbage. Teacher also took home worms for worm bins that will be used on school. Unfortunately, there were not enough attendees to truly learn about the programs being offered out there for them. Hopefully, next years conference will draw in a bigger crowd.