Looking to foster energy consciousness in your community? One place to start is with your child's school. Parents can make a big difference when it comes to how schools are run, so your ideas and opinions count, especially if you’re willing to put in the time and energy necessary to help organize new programs and initiatives. Check out these tips from DAS Demo.

Ask First

The majority of schools love having parent involvement. However, before you get started on any project, particularly one that may require changes in the way the school operates, make sure that you have the school’s permission and support.

Getting the Funds

Depending on how eco-friendly your child’s school currently is, suggested improvements could be as simple as getting a better recycling program started or having a fundraiser for more environmentally-sound facilities or practices. Schoolchildren raise money for various causes all the time, from under-funded school sports to arts programs to class trips. If you see an area where your child’s school could become more eco-friendly, why not organize and help run a fundraiser that raises money to support a school-wide green initiative?

Of course, you don’t necessarily need to find people in your community who are willing to invest in your cause in order to see change happen at your child’s school. Various grant programs are designed specifically to help make schools more environmentally friendly; it’s really just a matter of looking for programs that serve your area. Your kids may be the ones going to school, but finding applicable programs and opportunities could require you, the non-student, to do a little homework.

If your children go to school in Colorado or California, you might look into Green Up Our Schools, a grant program that provides money and other resources to elementary schools looking to reduce waste and improve recycling programs. With success, these programs could spread to other states, and you may find that similar programs are already available in your area.

Project Learning Tree

If it’s other resources, and not necessarily money, that you’re looking for, you might try Project Learning Tree, which has provided environmental education and curriculum materials to Pre-K through 12th-grade instructors across the country for over 30 years. Their focus is on teaching future generations how to think about environmental concerns, versus just telling them what they should think. Their programs also focus on bringing environmental awareness into the surrounding community, and not just the schools. This improvement to your school’s environmental education may seem like a small step to take, but it has the potential to inspire waves of change within the school and throughout the entire community, especially if the school’s current focus on environmental issues is slim to none.

Start at Home

These eco-friendly changes should start at home, say by buying green back-to-school supplies and educating your children about the importance or preserving the planet. Any issue this important to you as a parent and citizen of the Earth shouldn’t be left up to the schools to teach; rather, you should start with education within your own home. You can find ways to cultivate change within the larger school system, even if this means starting a small program within your child’s grade level or class and building out from there.