International Young Eco Heroes Award

Action for Nature’s International Young Eco Heroes Award is open to environmental activists between the ages of 8 - 16 who have completed a substantial project to help sustain our planet. Applications for 2025 are open through February 28, 2025.

Leadership Development Fellowship

 The Call For Kindness offers change-makers a 13-23 the chance to participate in a Leadership Development Fellowship and win up to $5,000 in funding for a project that inspires kindness and strengthens their local, national, or global communities. Applications are open now through March 9, 2025.

The NCF-Envirothon

The Envirothon is an environmental and natural resources conservation problem-solving, leadership experience and academic competition for secondary school (high school) students (grades 9-12 or ages 14-19) across the United States, Canada, China, and Singapore. The first step for any team participating in the NCF-Envirothon is to participate in their local state, provincial, or national Envirothon competition.

Congratulations to these schools for launching their Whole School Sustainability journeys through START! See a map of our START schools here.

• St. Michaels University School, British Colombia, Canada

• Tree Academy, California USA

• Miss Porter’s School, Connecticut USA

Why Climate-Resilient Schools Matter

As our climate rapidly changes, so too must our understanding of the role of schools in our communities. With more frequent and intense extreme weather events, schools can serve as critical community resilience hubs that can provide safe shelter, essential services, and emergency power when disasters strike. 

✔ A Safe Haven for Communities – schools are built to accommodate large numbers of people, equipped with robust infrastructure, and centrally located. Schools often already function as emergency shelters, but without backup power, they can’t provide heating, cooling, or essential services when the grid fails.

✔ Powering Essential Needs – On-site solar, battery storage, geothermal heating and cooling, and EV school buses with bidirectional charging can provide emergency electricity for lighting, refrigeration, medical devices, and communication systems.

✔ Reducing Dependence on Fossil Fuels – Diesel generators are expensive, polluting, and unreliable over long outages. Renewable energy solutions offer a cleaner, longer-lasting alternative.

✔ Schools can support students’ mental health before, during, and after extreme weather events.

Success Story: Santa Barbara School District (CA) responded to the historic 2018 wildfires, in which schools were called on to serve as safe havens and emergency response centers, by planning for energy resilience. The School District teamed up with nonprofit Clean Coalition to develop plans for solar-powered microgrids, with solar canopies that will power 94-98% of the district’s electricity needs, with solar battery storage at six sites. (Source: Gen180).

“It’s a win for our finances — this project will save $8 million over the lifetime of the project, which is money that can go directly back into the classroom.”
- Laura Capps, SBUSD Board of Education (quoted in Gen180).

START Metric #42: Renewable Energy

Schools across the U.S. spend nearly $8 billion annually on energy, with electricity accounting for 60% of total consumption. By transitioning to renewable energy, schools can cut energy costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance their resilience to extreme weather events.

The Financial Case for Renewable Energy

💡 Schools with solar panels can save millions – Tucson Unified School District expects to save $43 million over 20 years with solar energy.

💡 Solar-powered schools can reinvest in education – Batesville School District (Arkansas) used solar savings to increase teacher salaries by up to $9,000 annually.

💡 Solar energy costs have plummeted – The average cost of non-residential solar has dropped by over 70% in the last decade, making installations more affordable.

💡 Most schools can go solar with no upfront costs – 79% of solar-powered schools use third-party financing, such as Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), to reduce or eliminate installation expenses. These agreements often require minimal to no upfront costs, allowing schools to benefit from immediate energy savings.

Beyond the financial benefits, renewable energy protects schools from power outages, improves student learning environments, and enhances community resilience.

Recommended Resource for Schools Looking to Switch to Solar: Generation 180

Generation180 provides a Clean Energy Helpdesk and a How To Guide for Schools Going Solar. Your school may be eligible to receive a free solar feasibility assessment and technical assistance from Generation180 and partners.

Energy Use Analysis: A First Step in Assessing Your School’s Solar Feasibility

A solar feasibility assessment is a detailed evaluation of whether a school can successfully install and benefit from solar energy. It helps schools determine the technical, financial, and logistical viability of a solar project before committing to installation.

A key component of a Solar Feasibility Assessment is an an energy use analysis. Reviewing 12-24 months of utility bills enables your school - and renewable energy providers - to understand your schools electricity needs, consumption patterns, peak demand periods, and how much solar energy is required to offset electricity use.

Did you know you can track your school’s energy consumption in START’s Analytics!

Add your energy data (from utilities bills) into the START Spreadsheets, and you can track energy consumption and associated costs over time: 

Green Schools Alliance is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created by schools, for schools, with a mission is to connect and empower schools worldwide to lead the transition to a sustainable, equitable, and climate-resilient future.

Ways to get involved:

1. Get your school to sign the Sustainability & Climate Leadership Commitment to join schools and districts who have already
   answered the call to action.

2. Join the Community for resources, best practices & a peer-to-peer network of school sustainability champions.

3. Use START: Sustainability Tracking, Analytics & Roadmap Tool to benchmark, plan, track and collaborate for Whole School Sustainability.