1 The phrase “going green” means giving up the things we do each day that take something away
from our environment, and replacing those choices with ones that benefit the planet and our
lives. We all know that it’s important to reduce, reuse, and recycle as often as we can. By
reducing the number of items we buy and throw away, we save money and keep garbage out of
landfills. We reuse and recycle plastic bags and containers from the grocery store to make our
homes into more environmentally-friendly spaces. But it’s important not to limit our efforts to just
making our houses into greener spaces. Can we make our schools healthier, greener spaces
without spending a lot of money? Can our schools lead the way to a cleaner world? With only a
little effort, we can reduce our school’s impact on the environment, decrease pollutants that affect
student health, and increase test scores just by making our school into a green school.