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- WELCOME -

Green Schools in the Monterey Bay Area

Claudia Villalta-Mejia

Bilingual Sustainability Consultant

Jakki Castorena-Davila

Bilingual Sustainability Consultant

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What do we do:

Provide technical assistance to businesses and institutions�
Help municipalities reach their goals: Climate, conservation, and economic development community/equity

Investing in small businesses and promoting them so that they can grow and thrive�
Provide a green marketplace for consumers

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What is a Green School?

Reduced Water Use

Conserve Energy

Avoid Waste

Recycle Materials

Prevent Pollution

Environmental Goals

Collaboration & Support

Environmental Literacy

Student Engagement

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Value Proposition for Campus Certifications

Gives an opportunity for students to learn the state Environmental Practices and Concepts

Enables the districts to function as a sustainable part of the Monterey Bay watershed

Help comply with state and local mandates, such as SB 1383

JC: Working with us and getting certified gives the opportunity for students to learn the state environmental practices and concepts. Students will be involved in the certification process and learn these principles through various activities stemming from the Green Schools detective booklet. Towards the end of each lesson, they will be able to make recommendations to their principal on how to make their campus more environmentally friendly based on their learnings and observations.

Through a green team and student involvement, we can ensure that the district is a sustainable part of the Pajaro Valley and Monterey Bay watershed.

During this process we will help the schools be in compliance with the many local and state mandates affecting them, including SB 1383 and new water conservation measures.

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Resources for Success

Measures: Checklist organized by department, district and campus staff responsible

Contacts: Lists of district admin, City and County partners, County Office of Education support, waste haulers, water district, and CBOs

Booklet: Green Schools Detective Booklet for kids and a lesson plan for the educators. Developed in partnership with local CBO

Support: Technical assistance from a coordinator along with the support of our partners

JC: So far, these are some of the tools we have available. We’ve been compiling resources that will help the schools achieve this certification more efficiently but we continue to learn as we go.

We have the Schools checklist on GreenBiz tracker and a document that organizes the measures by who can most effectively help get an answer. Whether that is someone from the district or campus and what department .

We have established contact lists to share with our primary contact. These could be contacts to help explain certain measures or an organization who can be a guest speaker or host a field trip. Partnerships are key!

We also have an activity booklet called the Green Detective booklet that was developed in partnership with a local CBO, you can see an example of one of the pages here on the right. This booklet has a teaching plan and activities for the students to be directly involved with the certification process. Things like counting storm drains, finding energy star appliances and waste sorting. Each section, which follows our checklist, culminates with a list of improvements and recommendations for the principal. The booklet also has the kids think of a project for their school which can be used to apply for Ocean Guardian funding.

Our integrated partnership with our local governments like the CoW and SCC can provide the schools with additional support and free resources. They provide waste trainings and audits for students and staff, water project rebates, litter clean-up kits and field trips. While other partners can provide things like free water conservation devices, energy retrofit rebates and even free trees!

Finally, we have a set goal of working with at least 4 elementary schools this academic year. We want to learn and perfect the process of certifying elementary schools while building a self-sustained sustainable culture at PVUSD.

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Next steps

Our Goals: Certify at least 4 elementary schools this academic year

Register: Get started at greenbusinessca.org

Leverage: Green schools branding materials, District “Green Team”, and partnership with County Office of Education to make inroads into more school campuses

Educate: Use this certification as a tool to link theory to practice in environmental education

JC: Some next steps we have layed out for ourselves are that for one, we want to leverage other funds, programs, and partnerships for campus certification and recognition. We’re working on co-branded Green School logos and collateral. As well as a resource guides for staff to follow so that when a school champion leaves, sustainability efforts will continue. Working with the district green team and the COE to continue their sustainability efforts and meet new schools to work with.

Secondly, we want to strategize how to engage and work with champions at different schools. Not every school has a dedicated teacher who wants to go above and beyond to certify the school, sometimes we have an office manager or a parent who wants to lead the school in certification efforts. We need to find what works for individual schools.

Thirdly, this certification will be used as a stepping stone to further sustainability efforts. We help connect the school with important resources and help establish a green team if the school doesn’t already have one. Our activities and student involvement will prepare the schools to become Ocean Guardian Schools and receive funding for continued environmental projects. We’ve been collaborating with the Schools Recycling & Composting Advocates Program, the County Office of Education and the Coastal Watershed Council to develop more tools to help establish a sustainable culture at the schools past the certification.

Finally, meet our goal this year to work with 4 elementary schools and prepare for the years to come. Once we’ve worked with students at the elementary school level, we can continue to engage interested individuals to help certify their middle schools and high schools.

At the moment I am actively working with 2 elementary schools and setting up meetings with 3 others within the district, to meet this goal for this academic year.

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Calabasas Elementary School:

First certified school in district

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Contact: Jakki Castorena-Davila

jcastorena@environmentalin.com

831-288-1415

Contact: Claudia Villalta-Mejia

claudiavmejia@environmentalin.com

831-288-1415