Green Team is made up of PTA volunteers and may also include student volunteers to help with landscaping and other environmental tasks. This team maintains and beautifies the outdoor spaces around Whittier Elementary School fostering the skills of stewardship and a respect for nature while developing a sense of pride in our school and community. It also promotes the 3 R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) to make our world a greener place!
Examples of Green Team Projects and Activities:
Native Plant/Pollinator Garden: In 2022-2023, the Green Team planned and oversaw the installation of a pollinator garden on the west side of the school (low lying area by Kindergarten drop off). Native plants provide a home and food source for a variety of butterflies, including monarchs, and other insects. They’re low maintenance, help control flooding and are beautiful! This area will also provide a hands-on teaching environment.
Illinois Green Schools Project: This is a year-long sustainability challenge designed for K-12 schools across Illinois. The program gathers students, teachers, and staff to form a green team and meet regularly to design and implement a year-long, no-to low-cost, sustainability initiative at our school.
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10 Reasons Families Should Go Green!
There are plenty of reasons to start living sustainably, within the world’s limits, but here are 10 reasons to persuade you. No matter who you are, or on what side of life’s fence, here is a challenge for you:
- Do it for your kids. Going green is one of the biggest gifts you can give to your kids for their future.
- Save money. From reusing lunchbox containers to using your car or appliances less to making your home more efficient. There are plenty of ways for families on tight budgets to save money and help the environment at the same time.
- Get away from the TV, enjoy what mother nature has to offer. You could go as a family to hear a speaker on the environment at the Morton Arboretum or get together for outings of all kinds from nature walks, fishing, boating, skiing, swimming and camping, to river clean-ups and more. Enjoy Mother Nature!
- Work as a team. To the extent that some eco-friendly actions take more planning or effort, families can be well suited to divvying up the tasks and getting involved.
- Invest in your body for the future, its good for your fitness. Walking to school, biking, rollerblading, sailing, canoeing, swimming and more… active ways to get around for work or leisure are not only better for the planet but also can be better for you bodies.
- Kick start the kids’ careers. With all these environmental problems, there is an ever increasing demand for environmental professionals. Society is going to need more environmental engineers, lawyers, marketers, business people, and more. Going green can help prepare, educate, and motivate your kids for this wide range of career possibilities.
- Rebel together. While it may or may not be truly mainstream to be green these days, we all know that we still live in a ‘bigger is better’ society where most people conform to unnecessarily high consumption norms. There are possibly no bigger rebels than environmentalists. Be original, be unique, controlling your life how you want to generates respect from others and develops your character. Family support to do this is definitely a huge asset.
- Invest in your body for the future II, stay healthy. less toxins = less sickness
- Spend more time together. One way to reduce your driving is to work from home on occasion by using the internet. Tele-working is not possible for everyone of course. But if you can do it, you eliminate plenty of commuting time, allowing you to really be there a lot more for and with your family.
- Impress each other. Show actions to your kids, speak out on issues publicly, stand up for the health of your family and our planet, go against the grain. You might just be amongst those rare parents who are actually seen as cool by their kids.
Places You Can Recycle Common Household Products
- Latex Paint – Ace Hardware (small fee of $5 per gallon or $2.50 per quart)
- Batteries – bring to Mrs. Sustar in the LRC and she will recycle them
- Printer Cartridges – Office Depot, Target
- Cell Phones – Target, Best Buy
For more information on where to recycle, please visit Earth911.com.
Green Team encourages every Whittier family to make recycling and respect for the environment part of daily life!
Parents: interested in helping with Green Team? Contact Kelly Freely (kelfreely@gmail.com).
