Vermont School Carbon Challenge
Your school can be a part of the solution. Here's how....
The challenge concluded on April 1, 2009 and the three winning schools and the top team have been announced! Please see the letter from Governor Douglas, and congratulations to all the terrific teams that participated!
The Future…Is Ours to Shape Today
We at the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources realize the challenges in fighting climate change. We realize also that if we are to successfully reduce and mitigate the environmental consequences of the atmospheric buildup of greenhouse gases we must enlist the support of Vermonters willing to take action as responsible climate stewards…and that’s where you fit in!
The Vermont School Carbon Challenge
The Vermont Agency of Natural
Resources, in collaboration with the Vermont
Department of Education 
and Carbonrally.com
wants to give you some important new tools you can use to go on a successful
low carbon diet. It’s challenging, it’s fun, and it’s the
perfect way to experience how all the small things we do, taken together, make
a BIG difference!
Reducing your school’s and your community’s carbon footprint has never been this much FUN!
The Agency is looking for student and teacher environmental champions who can bring students together in the spirit of both competition and cooperation to both individually and collectively reduce the amount of CO2 generated.
What’s
In It for My Class and Our School to Participate?
- The Agency is offering a $5,000 cash prize to the elementary, middle and high schools with the greatest carbon reduction (as computed on a per capita basis). Prize money will be awarded with an understanding that it will be invested in an energy-efficient technology, strategy, or initiative to further reduce the school’s environmental or carbon footprint.
- A $1,000 cash prize will be awarded to the school with the top performing team in Vermont. Again, prize money will be awarded with an understanding that it will be invested in an energy-efficient technology, strategy, or initiative to further reduce the school’s environmental or carbon footprint.
- The Agency will provide an environmental opportunity assessment to be conducted by staff of its Office of Environmental Assistance to each of the three (3) winning schools.
- Winning schools will be recognized by the Governor at a State
House ceremony during Earth Week 2009.
Here’s a BRIGHT idea: Plan to use the cash prize as an incentive for match money invested by the local community – making the prizes worth, in effect, twice as much!
How
Do I Participate?
To put your school quite literally on the map as a climate champion all you need do is …
- Learn what you can about climate change and the important role each of us must play as responsible climate stewards
- Rally your students/classmates as a team prepared to accept the
personal carbon reduction challenges posted by the folks at Carbonrally.com .
- Read about getting started with Carbonrally.com and The Vermont School Carbon Challenge
- Visit and explore the Carbonrally.com Web site found on the Internet at:
- http://www.carbonrally.com
- Form team(s) on the Carbonrally.com website,
recruit friends and parents to join the team, and start taking personal
CO2 challenges. Make it the first day of a carbon diet with truly
global implications!
- Carbonrally is designed to reward small CHANGES in our day-to-day routines. For this reason, participants should not accept challenges for things they already do. Rather, they should take challenges that represent real changes in behavior.
- Carbonrally is honor-based, meaning participants are honor-bound to actually undertake the challenges they accept.
- In order to easily track the teams in the Vermont School Carbon Challenge competition, all team names should begin with "VSCC". For Example a team could be called "VSCC–Carbon Busters".
- Teams should include the name of their school in the description
of their team on Carbonrally.
Contact
for More Information or Questions:
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources
Department of Environmental Conservation
Office of Environmental Assistance
103 South Main Street, The Cannery
Waterbury, VT 05671-4911
Attn: Doug Kievit-Kylar
Phone 802.241.3628
doug.kievit-kylar@state.vt.us
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