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every child. one voice.
April 7, 2004
“GO GREEN” IS SAVING TREES
All eight PTA schools in Pleasanton are participating in the Go Green initiative for the 2003/2004 school year. The schools are Alisal, Fairlands, Mohr, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, Vintage Hills and Walnut Grove Elementary Schools as well as Harvest Park Middle School and Amador Valley High School. The Go Green Initiative, piloted during the 2002/03 school year by the Walnut Grove Elementary PTA, is designed to teach children to be responsible caretakers of the planet; and to heighten community awareness of, and participation in, environmentally responsible behavior. Pleasanton PTA Council received a $45,000 grant from the City of Pleasanton in September 2003 in order to help the City reach the state mandated 50% reduction in waste contributions to the local landfill.
Based upon the first and second quarter reports, the program has been a roaring success. The eight schools have collectively recycled:
· 97.8 tons of paper
· 2.25 tons of plastic
· 3.3 tons of aluminum
· 2,670 lbs. of cardboard lunch trays
· 1,796 printer cartridges
· 501 cell phones
This translates to the avoidance of 79 metric tons of greenhouse gas emission and 1.2 billion BTU’s of energy use. We have also saved 1,176 trees. We’re off to a great start and expect to see continuing increases in our waste diversion efforts. In addition, our students are learning about the value of recycling and other key environmental issues.
For more information, call Jill Buck, President (Go Green Coordinator) at (925) 846-3257, or
Debbie Look, VP, Communications (925) 600-0958 or look49@comcast.net