There are hundreds of ways to address climate change and other environmental issues. They range from adopting global agreements on reducing greenhouse gases (ok, fingers crossed) to countries committing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions (oops, fingers crossed there too) to students taking action (yes, those who will be most affected by climate change in the decades to come).

Congratulations to students, and in particular to students involved in the Green Schools Alliance Green Cup Challenge.

The Green Schools Alliance (GSA) is a proactive non-profit organization in the U.S. that engages students from about 2,000 schools. They are inclusive and offer a number of levels of commitment from K-12 schools, including an annual student conference, resource fairs and the Green Cup Challenge.

Created by schools for schools, the Green Cup Challenge is the original student-driven inter-school energy challenge. The GCC invites all schools to measure and reduce electricity use and Greenhouse Gas emissions, and supports greening efforts including recycling and water conservation. The Challenge empowers students and builds community, while raising awareness about climate change and the importance of resource conservation. (Paragraph copied with pride from http://www.greencupchallenge.net/).

Please check them out and if you are in school or have an environmentally proactive child please encourage them to talk to their teachers about GSA.

In the meantime, check out some of the videos (bottom of the page) that students have produced – I see one or two future Steven Spielberg’s or James Cameron’s in the videos!

Keep it up GSA!