Growing Green at HAMC

Here at HAMC, we are green with ... pride! We know, it's not the usual expression you find attached with "green," but we're happy to announce that during the summer, our school qualified for the Green Schools Honor Roll.

That makes us the first school in New Jersey to make the prestigious list from the Green Schools Initiative! Check out our profile here.

Students with our new composter!

Our HAMC Green Team is so fortunate to have an administration and staff that fully supports our environmental efforts -- especially because the green message dovetails with the core Jewish value of Tikkun Olam.

We're encouraging parents to pack eco-friendly lunches for their children (with thermoses instead of juice boxes and reusable containers instead of plastic baggies) and to follow the new school policy of "No Idling" in the pick-up line. Also, we hope that all staff members will join us in our efforts to help keep our green school its greenest. With our new Green Schools Honor Roll status, we feel the added responsibility to "walk the walk and talk the talk." Please help us, in any way that you feel comfortable, to spread the message of Tikkun Olam and how it relates to environmentalism. Here are some suggestions:

• Join your students in packing a lunch that reduces waste at school.
• Turn off the lights whenever the class leaves your classroom--even better, let the students do it. At the end of the day, please turn off all computers and monitors.
• Use paper cups instead of plastic cups at snack time. Without liquid (preferably water), these can go into your mixed paper bin. The school is working on supplying compostable cups for all classrooms--which can go into our brand-new composter, located near the greenhouse.
• Your mixed paper bin is not just for paper--cardboard boxes from snacks can be disposed of there, too.
• Avoid plastic or styrofoam for arts & crafts projects, instead choosing "green" materials such as recycled cardboard.
• Encourage the kids to drop off their old, broken crayons in the school's crayon recycling bin, or at the front office.
• Read green books to the children and discuss ways that even the smallest students can make big differences for our planet. It's very empowering for them to learn that their choices have real and measurable effects.

We have another wonderfully green year ahead, from poster contests to special guest presentations to "green captains" in the student body -- all tied into the core Jewish value of Tikkun Olam. We can't wait to share all of our green goings-on here on the blog!

The green message is universal -- how do you go green?