The Go Green Initiative Movement in Syracuse

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The Go Green Initiative Movement in Syracuse

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All schools prepare our children for the future,
but Go Green schools prepare the future for our
children.
Jill Buck Founder Go Green
Initiative
www.gogreeninitiative.org
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What's happening

• Unification of recycling district wide recycling
  memo
• Increased recycling education schools and
  community
• Styrofoam reduction initiative
• Support and active participation in the majority
  of the city schools
• Support from the Syracuse City School Board of
  Education

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State Wide Success

• April 2006 - NYS awarded the title of
• GGI state of the year
• May 2005 Edward Smith becomes first GGI school
  in NYS
• As of today, 40 schools participating
• 24 Syracuse City Schools

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Syracuse City Schools Involved with the GGI

• (as of November 14th, 2006)
• High Schools
• Fowler High School
• Nottingham High School

50 Involvement
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Syracuse City Schools Involved with the GGI

• Middle Schools
• Roberts (k-8)
• Shea Middle
• Grant Middle
• Levy Middle

• Frazer Middle
• Clary Middle
• Lincoln Middle
• Blodgett (k-8)

80 Involvement!
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Syracuse City Schools Involved with the GGI (as
of November 14th, 2006)

• Elementary Schools
• Bellevue Elementary
• Delaware Academy
• Dr. Weeks School
• Edward Smith Elementary
• Elmwood Elementary

• HW Smith Elementary
• Hughes Magnet
• LeMoyne School
• Meachem Elementary
• Salem Hyde Elementary
• Seymour Magnet
• Solace Elementary
• Van Duyn Elementary

77 Involvement!!
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Syracuse City Schools Involved with the GGI (as
of November 14th, 2006)

• Alternative Schools
• McCarthy School
• St. Daniel

• Suburban Schools
• Manlius Pebble Hill

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State Wide Endorsements Sponsorship

• New York State Association for Reduction Reuse
  and Recycling (NYSAR3)
• New York State PTA
• Naef Recycling
• Daystar Recycling
• Onondaga County Resource Recovery Agency (OCRRA)
• Solvay Paperboard

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Goals for the projected expansion of the GGI
program throughout Syracuse and CNY

• Utilize the GGI to unify and magnify existing
  environmental education efforts
• link participants to maximize efficiency
• promote and assist efforts as a team
• Educate a generation of Environmental Stewards
• Continue to grow and expand

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Go Syracuse!
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Edward Smith- The first school in NYS to adopt
the GGI Chelle Naef attended an inspirational
presentation by GGI founder Jill Buck in 2005.
Chelle was moved to work with the administration
to implement the program at Edward Smith.
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Planting the Seeds

• As a parent I was interested in learning more
  about the Go Green Initiative and how I could
  help make it happen in my daughters school, our
  neighborhood and community. The GGI concept of
  joining school staff, parents, students and
  custodians makes sense to have a successful team
  and long lasting program.
• Chelle Naef

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Components of the Go Green Initiative

• Schools pick 3 of the 5 flexible guidelines to
• adopt, adapt and implement -
• G-enerate Compost
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
• Education -
• Evaluation of everyday activities -
• Nationalize principles of responsible consumption
  -

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Building the GGI program

• Form your GREEN team
• Adopt, Adapt and Implement the GGI program
• Hold regular GREEN team meetings
• Submit meeting minutes
• Weigh recyclable data

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The GREEN Team

• Essential elements

Staff
Students
Parents
Administration
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Administrative Support

• Start with Principals to gain support and develop
  battle plan
• Without Administrative support the program will
  not be sustainable

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Custodial Support

• Often Recycling champions
• Will have answers to recycling questions
• Current problems vs solutions
• Essential to a sustainable program

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Teachers

• Work the GGI into curriculum
• Science classrooms composting recycling
  environmental ed
• Find the right group of teachers and your
  possibilities are endless
• IMPORTANT! do not overburden one teacher!
  Sustain the team concept!
• Essential to a sustainable program

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Parents

• Appeal to parents through the PTA
• Involving parents is a great way to reach out to
  the community

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Students

• Raising a generation of environmental stewards.
• Peers teaching peers / pupils teaching teachers /
  parents.

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Sustainability

• Building the team is the MOST important step in
  the GGI program.
• Syracuse GGI members meet on regular basis to
  discuss their programs.
• Meeting minutes are submitted and shared with the
  Syracuse city-wide GGI team.
• Monthly list serve is distributed to all GGI
  team-mates.
• Annual city wide GGI team meet 1st ever this
  November!

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BUSY PEOPLE!

• The biggest issue!
• Start simple and expand in time
• DONT OVER-DO IT!!!!!

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GREEN teams
Karen Hall and GREEN team
Carolyn Messina Yauchzy And Solaces GREEN team
Head Custodian Brian McGann
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GREEN teams
Solace Green team
Frazer Middle School Green Team
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GREEN teams
Frazer Green team
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An Ideal GREEN Team
Back Row Gil Schnorr Head Custodian Brian
McGann Principal Tony Tolbert GGI
Co-coordinator Chelle Naef Compost Team Leader
Kris Venne Parent Trisha Schwartz
Front Row Education Team Anna
Endreny Secretary Jennifer Cornell Teacher
Kathy Goodman Vice Principal Daryl Hall Not
pictured Student Council Advisor -Linda
Kraemer PTO President -Kiki White
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SHOUT OUT!! Pete Wirth of G.W. Associates
Publicist for Naef Recycling and NYSAR3 did an
amazing job of informing local, regional and
national newspapers and environmental groups of
Syracuse Go Green InitiativeThanks Pete!
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GGI Syracuse Time Line

• Ed Smith School signed up as a Go Green
  Initiative school in May 2005
• January 2006, Naef Recycling employed Jennifer
  Spoor to be the official CNY GGI Coordinator
• OCRRA, Solvay Paperboard joined Daystar
  Recycling
• and Naef Recycling to promote GGI in Syracuse
• As of July 2006 there are 27 schools signed on
  in Syracuse including 2 high schools, 16
  elementary schools, 1 alternative school, 7
  middle schools and 1 Catholic School
• We intend to sign up all 39 schools within in the
  Syracuse City School District by fall 2007

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School Initiatives

• 1) Generate Compost
• Solace Elementary School Vermicomposting in the
  classroom and weekly Ecology lessons often
  relating to worms.

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Edward Smith Lunch time composting project -
students from five classrooms are collecting food
waste in pails which then goes into a school
earth recycling ball. This ball is then rolled
to local community garden for compost use in the
garden.

Earth Ball used to collect compost at Edward
Smith Elementary
Students at Edward Smith add compost to Earth
Ball

• Generate Compost

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School Initiatives

• 2) Reduce Reuse Recycle
• Fowler and Nottingham High Schools
• Honor Society working to increase recycling
  School wide initiative

Nottingham GREEN team
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School Initiatives
. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
H.W. Smith. Select 6th graders collect
recycling every Monday. By collecting and
recycling aluminum cans students raised 1,500,
which they sent to Thailand for tsunami relief.
Students are now collecting cans for hurricane
relief in New Orleans.
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Milk Carton Recycling
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Cardboard Recycling
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Position of Bins
Trash
Container
Paper
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Position of Bins
Paper
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School Initiatives
3. Education
Lincoln Middle The Green Team united their
creative abilities to design a beautiful and
unique Go Green Initiative Mosaic which is in the
hallway. "Don't be a quitter, pick up
litter!"  
GGI Bulletin Board at Lincoln
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School Initiatives

• 3.Education
• Edward Smith
• Toad Hollow composting
• Recycling curriculum from DEC
• Teachers model recycling
• TONS of bins and signage
• GGI tabling at all events
• GGI bulletin board outside office

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Recycling Education
Frazer Middle
Seymour
Levy Middle
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3. Educate
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Plant tours at Naef Recycling
Justin Liszka Operations Manager
Justin Liszka
3. Educate
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Friendly cafeteria staff helps GGI by using only
brown paper bags and replacing Styrofoam
trays All clean brown paper bags are recycled
into class projects
3. Educate
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Veggie Bus - Vegetable oil powered bus visits Ed
Smith School for Earth Day

• Educate

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Community Garden and Composting project in
background

• Educate

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Students use surplus of Styrofoam cups purchased
prior to Going Green to plant seedlings for
community garden
3. Educate
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Community Hunger Project

• Goal to build and maintain organic gardens
  throughout the city of Syracuse
• To provide needy families with education and
  greens -

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Shea Middle School Garden
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Edward Smith Students stand by chart used to show
amounts of materials recycled
Jashonda Williams
Molly Naef
Riley Mahon
4. Evaluate
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• 5. Nationalize principals of responsible
  consumption
• Edward Smith
• email to communicate
• use both sides of paper for photo copies
• reuse paper products whenever possible
• reduced use of Styrofoam food trays in cafeteria
  by half.

School Initiatives
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Syracuses Go Green Team
Jennifer Spoor Naef Recycling
Michelle Rurka Solvay Paperboard
Chelle Naef Daystar Recycling
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For more information about the Syracuse Go Green
Initiative visit www.naefrecycling.com www.nysar3
.org You will find meeting minutes, interesting
facts and links to other important and
informative websites.