The Power of One

     After focusing on the power of one and the difference that just one person can make to a global problem, I decided to focus on how an individual's actions can make a difference in terms of sustainability. I discovered a program that targets environmentally responsibilities on school campuses. The popular program I researched is known as "Go Green Inititiave".
Go Green Initiative addresses what environment responsibilities each person on a school's campus has. Although the program focuses mainly on elementary schools, their goals can still be applied to other types of schools. Go Green Initiative involves all members that are active on a school's campus-students, parents, faculty, and staff included.
     The program involves a large amount of general education regarding the topic of the environment. Students who attend schools involved in the program have the opportunity to show what they have learned and gain incentives for being environmentally responsible.
Go Green Initiative has five main principles that they live by. These goals spells out the acronym "GREEN". The "G" stands for generate compost. This teaches everyone about the importance of recycling through a natural process. It also involves information about ecology, biology, and waste reduction. The "R" stands for recycle. This provides people with the knowledge they need to know what is recyclable, and what can be saved through recycling. The first "E" stands for educate. This includes general environmental education about how to live environmentally on campus. The goal is for these steps to eventually become lifestyle changes for the people in the community. The second "E" stands for evaluate. During this step, the people of the school evaluate their environmental impact of everyday activities. They then work to find ways to reduce activities that use up excess energy. The "N" stands for nationalize the responsibilities of paper consumption. This aims to promote internet communication as much as possible in order to avoid printing excess paper.
     These five principles are implemented throughout the program. Currently, there are schools in all 50 states, 14 countries, and 4 continents who are following along with the Go Green Initiative program. The website gives helpful tips that can help each person reduce their carbon footprint, especially in a school setting, bit by bit.