Scott Price, Ph.D.
Administrator, Business Services
Glendale Unified School District
Glendale, California
How can our schools develop sustainability programs to help reduce their carbon footprint?
As the economy contracts with shrinking state budgets, and as energy prices continue to increase, the need to go "greener" moves from a luxury to a responsibility. However, the issue with green changes is that upfront costs are prohibitive, and although the equation is shifting to allow for some eventual fiscal benefits, many large-scale projects still don't add up.
Al Gore said, "We sometimes emphasize the danger in a crisis without talking about the opportunities that are there." What do you consider to be green opportunities?
The biggest opportunity that institutions fail to take advantage of is conservation programs centered around people. We are currently working with expert consultants and an energy manager that we have hired from within the district. After just a year in the program, cost savings have averaged about 20 percent. Even small changes help, such as solar filming and west-facing windows.
How can we encourage our student population to design green programs for communities?
I think that they will lead us. Generation Y has a heightened sense of responsibility to the environment. Our generation has developed green processes and ideas. The upcoming generation will implement and refine these ideas. We simply need to allow them to act and help organize their enthusiasm.
How can we inspire this generation of students to become our next environmental engineers?
I believe this is already happening. Large companies are beginning to understand the social and economic dynamics around going green. The best way to inspire students to become environmental engineers is to provide jobs so that they can follow their passion. These jobs are being created as we speak.
What books are you reading right now?
I just listened to a book called Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box (Arbinger Institute, 2002). Although, in parts, it seemed a little preachy, it provided me with some fresh insight into some questions that I hadn't really considered. It was a definite departure from so many leadership "cookbooks" that exist.
David Vernier
Chief Executive Officer,
Vernier Software & Technology
Beaverton, Oregon
How can our schools develop sustainability programs to help reduce their carbon footprint?
The schools themselves can do some things, such as improving insulation, adjusting thermostats, adding solar panels, etc. But it is much more important in the long run that they serve as an example that the students carry forward.
Al Gore said, "We sometimes emphasize the danger in a crisis without talking about the opportunities that are there." What do you consider to be green opportunities?
I think there are wonderful opportunities to invent new energy sources and to engineer improved versions of existing products to make them much more efficient. At the same time, these new technologies and industries can be a great boost to our economy.
How can we encourage our student population to design green programs for communities?
I hope that many students are picking up on the growing -- nearly universal -- acceptance that we have a climate crisis going on and they need to do their part to help with the situation.
How can we inspire this generation of students to become our next environmental engineers?
I think we have to make sure that kids get the message that, whether it is fair or not, they are going to have to be the ones to deal with the global warming situation. The problems are not going to be solved by us older folks.
What books are you reading right now?
I just finished the relatively new biographies of Einstein (Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson) and J. Robert Oppenheimer (American Prometheus: The Triumph of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin), both are great books on several levels -- science, politics and personalities.
Chris Davies
School Board Director, District #2
Kent School District
Kent, Washington
How can our educational institutions develop sustainability programs to help reduce their carbon footprint?
Encouraging walking to school rather than busing or driving, recycling programs, energy audits of our operations, minimizing disposable items and constructing new schools with energy conservation in mind are just a few of the ways we can do our part. More importantly, we can also teach and get our students involved in these types of ideas and programs from an early age.
Al Gore said, "We sometimes emphasize the danger in a crisis without talking about the opportunities that are there." What do you consider to be opportunities?
We are seeing the next wave of ingenuity develop and much of it will focus on energy and conservation. People are beginning to understand the long term costs associated with pollution and the relationship with energy conservation. If school districts can set a good example and teach our children at the same time, it's a win-win for everyone involved.
How can we encourage our student population to design green programs for our communities?
Many students are motivated these days, not by reading textbooks, but by participating in hands-on and in visual ways. If schools can incorporate their kids into programs and systems that are environmentally friendly, the students will see this every day and we will have involved and educated them in the process.
How can we inspire this generation of students to become our next environmental engineers?
If interest is created at an early age and the students are involved, and can see the benefits associated with environmentally friendly systems, I think that they'd take more of a long-term interest in the topic and perhaps this would directly encourage more of them to think this way and take it on as a career.
What books are you reading right now?
Jim Cramer's Mad Money (by James J. Cramer with Cliff Mason) and Eat Right for your Blood Type (by Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo with Catherine Whitney).
Tria Case
Executive Director,
CUNY Task Force on Sustainability & The Center for Sustainable Energy at Bronx Community College
New York, New York
How can our schools develop sustainability programs to help reduce their carbon footprint?
The City University of New York uses a change management approach to integrating sustainability into the university. The students, staff, faculty, administration and alumni must be presented with a clear picture of what a sustainable "future state" will look like. Every department should join the effort in creating the plan and take ownership of their role in achieving sustainability goals.
Al Gore said, "We sometimes emphasize the danger in a crisis without talking about the opportunities that are there." What do you consider to be green opportunities?
Economic development. Energy security. Health. Green jobs. The renewable energy sector is one of the fastest growing arenas in the world. The opportunities for sustainable businesses are tremendous. Use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and biofuel, all "home grown" energy sources, will reduce toxins in the air and improve the health of our citizens while providing "green collar" jobs.
How can we encourage our student population to design green programs for our communities?
Awareness. This is a very tech savvy generation. We need to engage student leaders in reaching out through the venues of information they use: the Internet, iPods, text messaging. We need to give them sustainable actions they can perform and integrate into their lives. Once they start, there will be no stopping this generation from designing and living green.
How can we inspire this generation of students to become our next environmental engineers?
It was the "race to the moon" that inspired students in the '60s to become scientists and engineers. We must convey that we are in a "race to energy independence" as well as a "race to global health". Environmental engineers are an important part of the solution and they certainly hold the key to the future of our planet.
What books are you reading right now?
I was just given a copy of Reframing Organizations by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal.
Breeanna Lane
Student, 17
Clovis West High School
Fresno, California
How can our schools develop sustainability programs to help reduce their carbon footprint?
Schools in my neighborhood can start more programs to clean up the campus and the parks. They could ban cigarette use in the surrounding areas of the school. Planting more trees around campus and teaching children how to respect the environment; some of the school buses have changed their gas to help with emissions. Encourage students to recycle for gas money.
Al Gore said, "We sometimes emphasize the danger in a crisis without talking about the opportunities that are there." What do you consider to be opportunities?
An opportunity is something that comes along, sometimes, in the form of a crisis. Opportunities can be to help someone, help yourself, learn, resolve problems, get something out of the way or inventing something new.
How can we encourage our student population to design green programs for our communities?
Offer incentives and awards: scholarships for collecting plastic bottles, job opportunities, prizes for recycling as much as they can, letters from political officials thanking them, offer money to design green programs, grants, and explain the issues that are in the environment.
How can we inspire this generation of students to become our next environmental engineers?
Have environmentalists go around to the schools and explain to students what they do and how important their job is, and have volunteers explain why it matters to help in the world.
What books are you reading right now?
The Hot Zone (by Richard Preston) and Malaria, West Nile, and other Mosquito-Borne Diseases by Nancy Day.
*This story is from Converge magazine's Winter 2008 issue.
