Updates and One Perspective for a Sustainable Future...

This week, Greenfox5 and YSEC Education held two meetings together. On Tuesday, we discussed partners for classrooms (at this point, about two to three educators will teach one class) and the logistics of getting to schools (we hope to utilize Dwight Hall's car reservation service). On Thursday, we determined who was going into classrooms on which days (there will be groups teaching on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday this week) and reviewed our "Waste" lesson plan, the first workshop we will be teaching. We are thrilled to be entering classrooms this week! Our lesson plan includes presenting an interactive powerpoint during the first half of class and then working with students on a project focused on reusing water bottles during the second half of class.

On another note, here's an interesting TED talk given by Alex Steffen, cofounder and executive editor of WorldChanging.com, an online clearinghouse of information on the environment and they ways we can work towards a sustainable future. In this lecture he discusses how we can reduce our ecological footprint and change our impact on the planet. Check out his TED talk (all you need is 20 minutes!) to learn about how to reduce your own carbon footprint.

We at Greenfox5 are excited about our first classrooms coming up this week!

Check in with us soon for more updates,

Greenfox5

Happy New Year!

Welcome back to New Haven! We at Greenfox5 Club at Yale are looking forward to the semester ahead. After Thanksgiving Break, we had a really successful meeting with a great turn-out of students who are all interested in joining the organization and excited about going into classrooms. Our plan is to start working with New Haven students by no later than the middle of this semester. We are still ironing out our relationship with YSEC Education. Based on how that pans out, we will either be going into classrooms in New Haven public schools or working in other New Haven-based community centers, such as the YMCA, and running after-school programs.


The Environment in Current Affairs:


On January 12th, the New York Times reported that the weather monitor company behind the Weatherbug application and website is now using its technology not only to predict the weather but also to measure levels of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and methane in particular) in the atmosphere. This new kind of data collection will "be capable of real-time measurements at the national and even regional level, allowing regulators to more accurately pinpoint emissions sources" and therefore allow international courts to verify that individual countries are complying with international agreements aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions. For the full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/business/12monitor.html?ref=carbondioxide


Don't forget to follow us on Twitter (@greenfoxschools) and check out our Facebook page: Greenfox5 at Yale! 


Go Green,
Greenfox5

Welcome to Greenfox5 at Yale!

At the beginning of the 2009/2010 academic year, the Greenfox5 Club entered the broad spectrum of extracurricular programs offered at Yale University. As an extension of Greenfox Schools, a nonprofit based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, we work to empower New Haven public school students with the knowledge they need to understand sustainability and apply it to their everyday lives. Greenfox Schools believes that we can best explain sustainability by organizing our curriculum into five main categories: Energy, Waste, Food, Products, and Greenspace. We plan to teach children a myriad of ways in which we can all benefit the environment; from using wind, solar, hydroelectric, and other renewable sources of energy, to recycling, composting, and employing other waste-reduction methods, to purchasing organic and locally grown food and non-toxic, biodegradable, and energy efficient products, and finally to using environmentally friendly building products. 

This semester, we have been working on finalizing our lesson plans and raising awareness on campus. We are also partnering with YSEC Education, an initiative spearheaded by Greenfox President and Founder Annelies Gamble and YSEC President Dacia Thompson. By partnering with YSEC Education, we are able to immediately enter schools that YSEC has long-standing connections with and can begin instant, hands-on training. We are scheduled to enter classrooms soon after the New Year and are very excited about teaching and getting to know our students!

For more information, you can visit Greenfox Schools website at http://www.greenfoxschools.com/index.html or email Annelies Gamble (annelies.gamble@yale.edu), Willa Frej (willa.frej@yale.edu), or Phil Gross (phillip.gross@yale.edu).

This blog will be updated weekly with news about our organization and editorials on current issues in sustainability, so please check in with us soon!

Thanks for checking us out,

The Greenfox5 Team