View the Commitment

A Call To Action

There are more than 120,000 K to grade 12 schools in the U.S. alone. Schools must be active participants in global efforts to conserve resources, mitigate climate change, reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, save energy dollars and prepare citizens to think and act in new and creative ways. No individual school or subset of schools can solve 21st century environmental and climate challenges alone. We must work together now to preserve our planet so that future generations can thrive. 

Step 1: Make the Commitment

As the duly authorized representative of my school, I hereby accept the Green Schools Leadership Commitment and Pledge to reduce my school’s energy use and carbon footprint at one of the following levels:

Climate Champion Level: Reduce my school’s carbon footprint by at least 30% within 5 years, and achieve Carbon Neutrality by 2020.

Climate Steward Level: Calculate my school’s carbon footprint by establishing an energy and carbon emissions baseline. Achieve carbon reductions over time.

Step 2: Build Your Taskforce

1. Organize a school Sustainability Task Force representing the entire school community to guide the development and implementation of a Comprehensive Sustainability Action Plan [Step 4] according to our level of commitment. [Suggested timeline: Within 2 months]

Step 3: Know Your Numbers

1. Benchmark energy usage and related carbon emissions baseline.
2. Conduct an Energy/Environmental Audit for the last calendar year.
3. Monitor and Evaluate our progress on a monthly basis. [Suggested timeline: Within 1 year]

Step 4: Reduce Your Environmental Footprint

1. Create a long-term Comprehensive Sustainability Action Plan addressing the reduction of our school's carbon emissions and resource consumption according to our Level of Commitment including: 1) Interim targets for actions that will lead to carbon reduction; and 2) Mechanisms for tracking progress [Suggested timeline: Within 2 years]
2.  Initiate two (2) or more short-term Tangible Actions to begin reducing carbon emissions and to demonstrate strong commitment to building a green school community. [Suggested timeline: within 1 year]

Step 5: Educate Your Community

1. Integrate sustainability lesson plans and activities into existing curriculum. [Suggested timeline: Ongoing]
2. Educate the school community and key stakeholders about the importance of sustainability & energy conservation.
3. Report Progress toward meeting my school’s Commitment on an on-going basis to my Member Profile Page on the GSA website. [Suggested timeline: Ongoing]