How can we "green" our schools to make them more environmentally
sustainable? What kinds of choices should we make, and which
choices will actually have an impact? How do we know that our
choices are making a difference? These are the questions that
frame a unique collaboration between the Rhinebeck school
district and educators from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem
Studies. Through a grant from the Rhinebeck Science Foundation,
we designed and implemented the Eco-Initiative, a three-year
program that builds scientific and environmental literacy
through all grades by mapping the ecological footprint of
elementary, middle and high schools. Our guiding principle was
to think of the school as an ecosystem, which allows students to
chart the inputs and outputs of energy and materials in a
familiar system. Students know they use energy, water, food and
other raw materials every day, and they can see how those are
transformed to wastes, such as trash and heat. But the students
are less aware of where the food, water