School Beat on Green Schools

This week's School Beat column covers initiatives to make our schools cleaner, healthier and greener: Making Schools Clean and Healthy

[...] there may be some renewed interest and ability to attend to making our schools healthier, as shown by the fact that a goal of creating cleaner facilities was actually a negotiated item in the most recent contract with the teachers. Luckily, in terms of environmental health in our schools, there are a few relatively easy starting places for parents, students and school staff.

The article covers a handful of pragmatic steps that are being taken in the district. We all know well how inertia can impede change in our schools, so read the article and help make some of these changes happen in your school.

The article mentions a number of websites, but in typical BeyondChron fashion, does not provide the links, or sidebars, to help readers delve into these resources. So here you go—here are a list of sites referenced in the article:

• On the federal level, the EPA offers a program called Tools for Schools devoted to improving indoor air quality in schools. An offshoot of that program is the EPA's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing program that offers a wealth of resources.
• San Francisco Department of the Environment, whose charter is "to improve, enhance, and preserve the environment and to promote San Francisco's long-term environmental well being" has published a page of resources on Less-toxic purchasing. The article refers to their final report (PDF).
• The article also refers to some non-profits that have been active on these issues, including SF's Healthy Children Organizing Project. Nationally, the Healthy Schools Network and New American Dream are sponsoring the Green Schools Sweepstakes which sounds like a fun way to engage your school community in the effort to make ours schools greener