At the Culver City Unified School District, our Sustainability efforts are led by a Sustainability Coordinator who works with the Environmental Sustainability Committee (ESC), Superintendent Tran, CCUSD Business Services, CCUSD school principals, staff, teachers, parents, students, liaisons, volunteers, and other stakeholders to help facilitate our green actions.
CCUSD is pleased to announce that the ESC is back up and running for this new school year 21-22, recruiting new members, focusing on pending projects from last school year and adopting new sustainability projects and goals to help green the District and put Environmental Justice at the forefront of our work.
During monthly meetings, the ESC members come together to work on green projects and goals for the year, hear from guest speakers on environmental topics, formulate the “Green Tip of the Week” which is posted in school newsletters, work with Grades of Green on recruiting student teams for their Climate Solutions campaign, and work on school improvements that reduce costs and minimize the District’s environmental footprint. The efforts are based in several pillars that drive our projects: Education, Energy, Water, Waste, Purchasing, Transportation, Green Spaces and Community. ESC also collaborates with other clubs and entities in schools: Walk N Rollers, Ballona Creek Renaissance High School Club, Associated Student Body, Academy of Visual & Performing Arts (AVPA), the Sunrise Club, Green Ambassadors, Growing Great, PTA and others.
Last year, during a nearly full year of Distance Learning, the ESC continued to push forward with green projects. Since the ESC was revived in 2019, we have gained 165 members who have come together to work on valuable projects that benefit the school and community. Some of these include water conservation upgrades which led to replacing all aerators and switching to dual flush toilets in 7 schools, improvement of the three-stream trash collection system, development of educational materials, creation of opportunities and events like Earth Fest Week (to celebrate Earth Day), establishment of City-District collaborations, especially with the Environmental Programs and Operations Division, and many more important environmentally-friendly projects. Last school year, we facilitated the shift to all green cleaning products for the district.
This year, the ESC is starting the new school year promoting the new “Free Fare” Program, rolled out in partnership with the Culver City Department of Transportation. All students from kindergarten through 12th grade can now ride the bus for FREE (in and beyond Culver City boarders on other public buses)! The ESC will continue to strive to pursue its sustainability initiatives within the framework of CCUSD’s own mission of educational excellence, incorporating environmental protection, action and justice, to increase conservation efforts, and to reduce and divert waste, with social equity and inclusion in mind. CCUSD will continue working to integrate sustainability into every facet and we take pride in leading by example.
According to School Board Member Dr. Kent: “At CCUSD, we want to educate our students to be stewards of the earth and we are committed to preserving the environment for future generations. The ESC is a wonderful platform for all the stakeholders in our school district to come together and find support for their green projects”.
CCUSD is the proud recipient of the Green Ribbon Schools Award, awarded in 2017, the highest environmental honor for any school district nationwide.
Do you want to help further CCUSD’s sustainability efforts? Support our CCUSD Green Video Project, produced by Bilder and directed by Dino Parks. We are looking for funding for filming, editing and permits for this project. We have gone as far as we can volunteering. Now we need YOUR help. Contact [email protected] for details.
ESC Meetings: Meet monthly on Thursdays from 5:00-6:30PM. Our next meeting is Oct 21, and others to follow on Nov 18, Dec 16, Jan 20, Feb 17, Mar 17, Apr 21 and May 19.
For more information on CCUSD’s Sustainability vision and Committee, please visit: www.ccusd.org/sustainability
Sandrine Cassidy
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