Green professionals from San Diego Unified and Oakland Unified school districts detail their journeys to impement surplus food reduction and recovery in their communities. This roadmap outlines strategies for engaging stakeholders, securing funding, and action steps for food recovery programs.

Building Green, a project of the Blue Green Alliance, is a comprehensive list of energy efficient product manufacturers, organized by sector (appliance, HVAC, insulation, etc.). This is useful for market research prior to making investments and is especially helpful if you are looking for more details on the energy effciency, material makeup and location of manufacture.

The guide outlines zero waste best practices, sugestions to increase recycling in your school, and a how-to guide.

The OUSD Green Gloves Program is reducing the environmental footprint of our schools by decreasing and sorting our waste through the efforts of Nutrition and Custodial Services staff. Our Green Gloves schools improve student learning, safeguard children's health, save money, and empower kids. We want our children, their schools and our community to be healthy and uphold sustainable practices!

Lincoln Public School's 2016 Construction Waste Guidelnes model responisble waste reduction and management practices. This document outlnes district standrads for all sectors: HVAC, plumbing, electricity, etc.

This resource outlines waste management procedures for DC public schools (2015-16). It provides cheat sheets for establishing responsibilities, setting up supplies, and establishing pick-up services.

This step-by-step guide will walk you through the process of starting a carton recycling program at your school. Resources include auditing information and classroom activities.

Formed in 2009, the Carton Council is an industry organization committed to grow carton recycling in the US. By promoting both recycling technology and local collection programs, as well as growing awareness that cartons are recyclable, we work to limit the number of cartons that become waste. We’ve had significant success in the past seven years, helping to bring carton recycling to over 64 million households or more than 60% of them in the United States.

Kiss the Ground teamed up with Life Lab to develop a middle school curriculum that allows students to understand the vital role soil plays on our planet. The 5-lesson curriculum, written to serve as supplemental material for the Next Generation Science Standards, teaches about the carbon cycle, photosynthesis, soil science, various agricultural practices, and concludes with a regenerative soil-based project.

Students spend a major part of each day in school – at least 25 percent of the time they’re awake. An unhealthy school environment can have a profound effect on their health and well-being in the short- and long-term. Stop School Pests training for schools, a free, self-guided training package aimed at K-12 staff who are involved in the environmental health of schools is available online. Developed by a team of IPM experts, this training will benefit any K-12 school district that wants to improve their school’s environmental health by reducing hazards from pests and pesticides. The website hosts individualized trainings for nine different categories of school staff and teaches how to address issues associated with school pests, such as asthma, absences, and pesticide exposure using an Integrated Pest Management approach.

Field Investigations: Using Outdoor Environments to Foster Student Learning of Scientific Practices is a framework of scientific practices that scientists use in the field. This guide was developed to help K-12 teachers introduce their students to the methodologies used for scientific field research and guide them through the process of conducting field investigations using these scientific practices. In particular, this guide demonstrates how to use descriptive and comparative methodologies for field studies typically used in the environment and natural resource sectors. The guide has been updated to address how the three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards may be used to integrate field investigation scientific practices with real world content through crosscutting concepts that practicing field scientists and engineers tackle in their role as professionals.

The National Environmental Education Foundation developed this guide to assist educators in planning instructive and memorable outings that incorporate best practices of outdoor environmental education.

The toolkit proceeds step-by-step from planning, to conducting, to presenting place-based projects. Additional resources and tips are suggested. Supplemental activities that develop goal setting, leadership, and team building skills are also included.

A program of Solar One, Green Design Lab is a K-12 education program that promotes experiential learning opportunities through science, technology, and design. Solar One’s programs increase environmental knowledge about energy, water, materials science, and food while fostering sustainable behaviors and stewardship. Using the school as a learning laboratory, Solar One’s K-12 programs introduce students to hands-on, real world experiences, support the development of creative thinking and problem solving skills, and turn students into advocates for sustainability in their schools and communities.

The Green Design Lab program delivers professional development opportunities to teachers; offers a curriculum package centered on the school building as a learning laboratory; and provides resources including videos, worksheets, and a toolkit for educators.

This set of resources compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) focuses on improving access to safe, clean drinking water in K-12 schools. Resources include CDC’s toolkit, Increasing Access to Drinking Water in Schools, as well as tools and information from federal partners including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The National Drinking Water Alliance’s (NDWA) mission is to ensure that all children in the U.S. can drink safe water in the places where they live, learn, and play. NDWA works to build access and consumption through inter-related action areas: research, policy, safety, access, and education. Resources for K-12 schools are broken out on the website around each of NDWA’s action areas.

ThinkWater is a national campaign supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help people of all backgrounds and ages think and care deeply about water. It does so by applying systems thinking to existing water education and research efforts and by actively engaging people in a new way around water issues. Resources for educators include videos, infographics, and lesson plans.

The National Park Service supports libraries and librarians in-person and online. Even if a library is too far from a park or the park is not able to provide a ranger, the wide range of resources available at NPS.gov can help capture the imaginations and deepen the curiosity of library patrons.

Librarians may use historic sites found on the National Register of Historic Places to make meaningful programs by connecting book topics with historic places, including local historic sites. Programs grounded in a real historic place take advantage of a patron's existing knowledge or emotional connections. The result can be a powerful library experience.

Slow Food USA is currently developing a three part Good, Clean, and Fair School Garden Curriculum. The “Good” Curriculum focuses on enjoying the pleasures of healthy and delicious food; the “Clean” Curriculum teaches gardening for sustainability; and the “Fair” Curriculum (still in development) covers producing food that respects economic and social justice. Together, they provide a full range of activities centered around the garden, including tasting activities, cooking with garden produce, sustainable gardening, studying food systems, and activities that promote access to affordable fresh food. Learn more about Slow Food USA’s National School Garden Program and download the “Good” and “Clean” curricula here.

Out Teach works with districts and schools to create the effective professional development programs and rich outdoor learning environments they need to unlock student performance with the power of outdoor experiential learning.

The World’s Largest Lesson was developed by Project Everyone to introduce the United Nations’ Global Goals for Sustainable Development to children and young people and unite them in action to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change. Visit the website to learn more about this project, find resources and lesson plans for each of the 17 goals, and to learn how you can join this global effort.

The Natural Inquirer program produces a variety of science education materials for PreK through grade 12. Natural Inquirer products are produced by the Forest Service, the Cradle of Forestry in America Interpretive Association (CFAIA), and other cooperators and partners. Their website includes lesson plans, activities, and resources for teachers as well as games, videos, and activities for kids.

Publications include:
(1) Investi-gator is a free science journal written for upper elementary level students. The journal follows the same format as Natural Inquirer just written at a different level.
(2) The Natural Inquirer Reader series was developed to meet the needs of PreK through second grade students. Each Reader focuses on one Forest Service scientist and their research. Readers contain glossaries, activities, and are correlated to National Education Standards.

Founded in 1991, Jane Goodall`s Roots and Shoots is a youth service program for young people of all ages. Through this program, youth lead local change through service campaigns while developing skills and traits of compassionate leaders. Students can choose from one of the suggested campaigns on the website or design their own. Educators will find all the tools and resources they need to implement a Roots & Shoots service campaign at their school and can search the website for projects that have been completed by students around the worlds.

A zero energy building, or ZEB, is an energy-efficient building where, on a source energy basis, the actual annual delivered energy is less than or equal to the onsite renewable exported energy.

SHAPE America – Society of Health and Physical Educators is committed to ensuring all children have the opportunity to lead healthy, physically active lives. SHAPE America has developed guidelines for physical activity and physical education in schools, and their National Standards for K-12 Physical Education serve as a foundation for physical education programs across the country. You can access both standards and guidelines on their website, in addition to helpful resources, tools, and professional development opportunities to help make physical activity a core component at your school.

Responsive Classroom is an evidence-based approach that emphasizes social, emotional, and academic growth in a strong and safe school community. Developed by classroom teachers, this approach gives K-8 educators the skills they need to help students build academic and social-emotional competencies. Visit their website to learn more about the broad array of consulting services and professional development opportunities they offer, including one-day and multi-day workshops; on-site, whole school professional development and consultation; teacher certification; and free online resources.

The National Association of Physical Literacy (NAPL) aims to inspire a healthy, active world in which all people have the ability to move, the confidence to play, and the desire to affect genuine wellness for generations to come. The global leader of physical literacy programming, certification, training, and curriculum, NAPL is a resource for K-12 schools looking to infuse more movement into every facet of the school day.

MindUp is a product of The Hawn Foundation and was developed to help children build personal resilience, develop positive behavior, and improve learning and scholastic performance. Grounded in the pillars of Neuroscience, Positive Psychology, Mindful Behavior, and Social-Emotional Learning, the program consists of 15 lessons that are tailored to a child’s age group and development level. Each lesson offers students mindful strategies that can increase self-control, focus, empathy, and optimism. Visit the MindUp website to learn more about the lessons, pricing, and to view related research and white papers.