April 21, 2015 (Sacramento):  Twenty-eight student-led Green Teams will share their proposals for saving water and energy at the district’s Earth Day Project Green Showcase on Wednesday (April 22).

Winning ideas will be funded by the district through Measure Q bond money.

Started four years ago, Project Green encourages students — in teams with teachers and parents — to learn about sustainable living by conducting green audits of their campuses. The audits are then used to craft student recommendations for facility upgrades that will improve energy and water efficiency and make campuses healthier places for students to learn.

At the annual showcase event, teams present their ideas to a panel of community experts that use rubrics to analyze the presentations. Last year, 18 SCUSD schools and McClaskey Adult Center were funded for such projects as solar tubes, low-flow/dual flush toilets, drought-resistant landscaping, new recycling bins, skylights and motion-sensor hand dryers.

“With the state in a historic drought, it’s more important than ever to teach children and teens about the importance of conservation,” says SCUSD’s Chief Operations Officer Cathy Allen. “Project Green not only asks students to research sustainability, but rewards their ideas with capital improvements to green their school. Students will gain from this venture now and for the rest of their lives.”

WHAT:                 SCUSD’s 2015 Project Green Showcase

WHEN:                 4 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22

WHERE:               Camellia Basic Elementary School

                                6066 Cougar Drive, Sacramento CA 95828