The Top 10 Green Schools in the U.S.: 2005

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2 - Healthy School Lunches: Does the school serve organic and/or locally-grown food for school lunches?

3 - School-wide Green Initiatives: Does the school have a recycling program, carpool incentives, or any other initiatives that show that the school is taking action to be pro-environment?

4 - Green Education: Is there an environmental curriculum?

5 - School Procurement Policies: Does the school use recycled paper, organic cotton for sports uniforms, low-energy computers or other green products?

6 - Contaminants:

a) Does it use integrated pest management (non-toxic methods to deprive bugs of food, water and entry) to avoid exposing children to dangerous pesticides?

b) Does it have wooden playground equipment treated with arsenic?

c) Does it use "green" cleaning materials, such as cleansers that do not release hazardous chemicals

d) Has the school checked for lead paint problems or high lead levels in water?

7 - School Green Spaces:

a) Does the school have green spaces or gardens that students are part of, and do the students participate in greening their school?

b) Does its landscaping including native plants (which also reduce the need for pesticides)?

Citing The Schools

While no school scored straight A's in all these criteria, we found ten that covered the field beyond our early expectations. Still, green schools can't rest on their laurels and solving some problems can lead to others. Spanking new schools in the outburbs may, unfortunately, preclude walking, shuttling students on long bus rides to distant buildings. "Because of transit access, even the oldest, most decrepit school in New York City probably has a smaller ecological footprint than the 'greenest' new school in the suburbs," says environmental economist Charles Komanoff of Komanoff Energy Associates (KEA), a New York energy consulting firm.

Happily, as green schools grow in number, they have begun to offer the proof in the pudding (or in the organic oatmeal) that with improved ventilation, better thermal control and enhanced natural lighting, students do better when tested academically.