About Green Schools Alliance
Who We Are
GSA is an alliance of K to12 public, private and independent schools
uniting to take action on climate change and the environment.
The Green Schools Alliance (GSA) was created by schools for schools, and is working with and through pre-K to grade 12 schools worldwide to empower youth, raise environmental awareness, build global community, and support school leadership to meet their climate and sustainability goals. Comprised of students, administrators, faculty, facility managers, business officers, and parents, this growing network of “schools guiding schools” is dedicated to galvanizing individual concerns about climate change and the environment into collective action to protect our shared future.
Schools Guiding Schools: The GSA Network
In just 18 months, the GSA has grown by word of mouth to more than 1,700 public and private schools in 36 states and 5 countries and is expanding rapidly. An alliance of pre-K to grade 12 public, private and independent schools uniting to take action on climate change and the environment, the GSA leverages schools’ experience and expertise. Schools with advanced greening knowledge mentor other schools. This infrastructure helps schools to meet their individual climate and sustainability goals, while maximizing environmental benefits for the greatest number. GSA provides a menu of opportunities that engage all members of the school community working together to ensure a safe and healthy environment for future generations through the implementation of sustainable, energy-smart solutions today.
Background:
There are 120,000 public and private K-12 schools in the United States alone that directly touch the lives of more than 80 million people every day. According to the U.S. Department Of Energy, taxpayers spend $8 billion dollars on energy for schools each year. Green schools reduce these costs by an average of 35%. Nationally, this could equal nearly $3 billion dollars, EACH YEAR, while providing students with hands-on learning opportunities, and empowering them for the future.
The GSA is a program of GEO: Global Environmental Options, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that was founded in 1994 as an outgrowth of the “Greening of the White House” initiative, the first major gathering of the green building community around one project. The GSA has been incorporated by GSA’s legal council, Cravath, Swaine and Moore, and is in the process of applying for independent non-profit status.
History
The GSA was inspired by ONE little boy wanted to celebrate Earth Day in his first grade class, and ONE mother wanted to make EVERY day Earth Day for him. First envisioned on World Environment Day, June 5, 2007, the GSA was created in response to Mayor Bloomberg’s challenge to New York City institutions to reduce their carbon footprint 30% by 2030. The GSA was launched at The Allen-Stevenson School on October 11, 2007 with support from The Mayor's Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the National Business Officers Association (NBOA), and other national, state and local partners.
GSA Membership: Be a Global Leader in Your Own Community
The GSA seeks to remove obstacles for schools to participate, so membership in the Green Schools Alliance is free, based only on a commitment of environmental leadership. A school joining the GSA at the Climate Steward level pledges to measure and begin to reduce its carbon footprint. Some schools choose to join at the Climate Champion level, pledging to reduce their carbon footprint by 30% within 5 years and become carbon neutral by 2020.
"Linking with GSA has added valuable leverage to the UNIS Green effort. We've gained momentum thanks to the resources and expertise within GSA. And the power of making the Pledge now holds us to this worthwhile commitment." - Marc Magnus-Sharpe, Dean of Students, United Nations International School (UNIS), USA
The Problem: The Global Climate Crisis
Uncontrolled carbon emissions are leading to unmanageable climate change that result in significant impacts on weather patterns, food supplies, species survival, sea level rise, spread of disease, etc. The 2007 report from the U.N. Foundation and Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society, entitled Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable, concludes that we need to stop growth in (as well as begin to reduce) greenhouse gas emissions by between 2015 and 2020 in order to forestall unmanageable climate change. Scientists worldwide agree that our climate and environmental challenges are real and imminent.
FACT: Experts estimate that over half of the energy used in buildings is wasted and can be cost-effectively eliminated using currently available technology and other strategies.
FACT: According to the U.S. EPA 2006 Emissions Inventory, the CO2 emitted from burning fossil fuels (coal, oil & natural gas) represents over 90% of net U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
FACT: The U.S. DOE calculates that buildings consume over 40% of total energy—including 70% of America’s electricity—and account for 38% of carbon emissions in the US.
FACT: Our nation's K-12 schools are challenged to serve growing student populations and rising community expectations with aging buildings, constrained operating budgets, and ever-increasing energy bills. Consequently, these buildings expose students, faculty and staff to high levels of pollutants, put their health and productivity at risk, and simultaneously waste a significant amount of energy which contribute to climate change and environmental degradation.
The Opportunity: Sustainable, Energy-Smart Schools
75% of climate emissions come from cities, and investing in energy efficiency is one the most effective ways to keep people working during an economic downturn. The GSA is creating replicable models of “schools guiding schools” to set quantifiable goals and then to meet them. Together our schools will be able to generate opportunities to put people to work, save money and save resources.
There are more than 120,000 public, private and independent pre-K to grade 12 schools in the United States alone that directly touch the lives of more than 80 million people. When friends, relatives and their local communities are factored into the equation, the number is enormous. The aggregate impact of school communities is sufficient to play a measurable role in helping to mitigate global warming and build a safe, sustainable future through the collective strength of individual action.. Through the GSA, pre-K to grade 12 schools can have a voice in the national dialogue on climate and the environment. If inspired to think globally and act locally, students and their broader school communities, can be empowered to become stewards for the environment who can impact climate change and our future on this planet.
FACT: According to the U.S. Department Of Energy, taxpayers spend $8 billion dollars on energy for schools each year. Green schools reduce these costs by an average of 35%. Nationally, this equals nearly $3 billion dollars, EACH YEAR. This $3 billion could purchase 80 million new textbooks, or be used to hire 60,000 new teachers who could incorporate their school's green features into their curriculum, providing students with hands-on learning opportunities, and empowering them for the future.
FACT: Teachers could incorporate their school's green features, such as energy, into their curriculum, providing students with hands-on learning opportunities about the environment, educate their school communities about the important role each person can play to build a safe, sustainable future.