2015 Sustainability Calendar

January 2015

Energy Month

ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Energy Scavenger Hunt

There are renewable (geothermal,

solar, wind), non-renewable (oil,

natural gas, coal) and secondary

(electricity) energy sources.

Have the class divide into 4-5 small

groups. Each group should

brainstorm examples of each type of

energy, and then find pictures or

items representing each. These can

be turned into an exhibit about

energy.

Then, the teams can use their energy

smarts to come up with as many

ways to conserve energy at school

and at home as possible.

January 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

National Cut Your

Energy Costs Day

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Martin Luther King

Jr. Day

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

February 2015 Electricity Month

ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Light It Up

Celebrate Thomas Edison’s birthday by making

a potato light.

What You’ll Need:

A large potato

Two pennies

Two zinc-plated nails

Three pieces of copper wire

A very small light bulb or LED light

Directions:

1. Cut the potato in half, then cut a small

slit into each half, large enough to slide

a penny inside.

2. Wrap some copper wire around each

penny a few times. Use a different piece

of wire for each penny.

3. Stick the pennies in the slits you cut into

the potato halves.

4. Wrap some of the third copper wire

around one of the zinc-plated nails and

stick the nail into one of the potato

halves.

5. Take the wire connected to the penny in

the half of potato with the nail and wrap

some of it around the second nail. Stick

that second nail into the other potato

half.

6. When you connect the two loose ends

of the copper wires to the light bulb or

LED it will light up

February 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Wetlands Day

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Thomas Edison’s

Birthday Valentine’s Day

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

World Thinking Day

March 2015 Good Neighbor Month

ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Make Your Neighborhood a

Better Place

Create a neighborhood beautification team,

and come up with ways to make your

neighborhood a better place.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

Clean up an area park, and make it a

monthly project.

Start a neighborhood garden where

you can grow flowers, fruits and

vegetables to share with your

neighbors.

Build a neighborhood compost pile to

reduce waste and provide fertilizer for

your garden.

Plant a tree(s).

Create a neighborhood-wide

campaign to plant flowers and

greenery in yards to attract butterflies,

hummingbirds and other wildlife.

March 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Plant A Flower Day

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

World Forestry Day

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

World Water Day

Earth Hour

8:30 p.m.

29 30 31

April 2015

Water Month

ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Make a Rain Barrel

Instead of letting rain water wash away,

collect it and use it! You can wash the car

or pets, use it for watering your garden or

plants and many other things.

What You’ll Need:

Large plastic trash bin or

container with a lid

Spigot

Drill

Mesh

Directions:

1. Use a large plastic trash bin with

a lid – the larger the bin, the

more water you can collect!

2. Attach a spigot close to the

bottom of the trash bin with a

drill. This will help you access the

water for filling up a bucket.

3. For rainwater to get in, you can

either filter the rainwater from the

gutter on the side of your house,

or cut a hole in the lid and place

mesh over it to keep leaves and

other debris out of the bin.

April 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Earth Day Arbor Day

26 27 28 29 30

National Environmental Education Week

National Volunteer Week

May 2015 Gardening Month

ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Make an Indoor Garden

If you are short on space at your school,

have each classroom create their own

indoor garden.

What You’ll Need:

Pots

Potting soil

Seeds (beets, carrots, lettuce,

onions, radishes, herbs, etc.)

Grow light and/or space in a

window with sun exposure

Directions: Have the children plant the seeds and be

responsible for watering them and

monitoring their growth. Each classroom

can grow different items, and then put

them all together for a healthy meal the

kids can enjoy.

May 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

National Public

Gardens Day

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Strawberry

Picking Day

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

June 2015 Sustainable Vacation Month

ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Plan a Sustainable Vacation

Traveling is fun for the whole family, but

it can also be rough on the

environment. Before you take off on an

adventure, take some time to plan a

sustainable escape.

Here are a few tips to get you started:

Plan your itinerary with the shortest

routes to save fuel and help

reduce your footprint. Also, try to

carpool if several people are

going.

Pack your meals to save money on

the road, and make sure to put

them into reusable containers.

Choose hotels and restaurants that

have environmentally friendly

practices (not washing the

towels/sheets daily, serving local

food, etc.)

Learn about the heritage and

culture of the area you are

visiting.

Buy local.

June 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4 5 6

World Environment

Day National Trails Day

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

World Oceans Day

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

International Picnic

Day

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30

July 2015 Recycled Art Month ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Create Recycled Artwork

There are tons of arts and crafts you can

do with everyday items. Here are some

suggestions, but be creative and make

art out of your trash!

Instead of buying a new lunchbox

for school, make one. Take an

old metal or plastic lunchbox,

and create and glue on a

collage out of old magazine

pictures.

Make a shoebox guitar by

covering an old shoebox with

recycled paper and decorating

it. Attach a paper towel tube to

one end, and decorate it. Then,

cut a hole in the top. Stretch

rubber bands across the hole,

and play away.

Use plastic bottles, bottle caps,

tissue boxes, toilet and paper

towel rolls, newspapers, etc. to

build fun and exciting things.

July 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

World Population

Day

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

Consider using REUSEABLE food and drink containers instead of paper plates and plastic cups when packing for a summer picnic!

ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Make Your School Greener

Everything from buying the right back to

school supplies and using Ebooks to

recycling at school and using less

electricity can help your school be more

“green.” Start an environmental club,

and figure out ways your school can

make a difference. Then, enter the Good

Sports Always Recycle School Challenge

and win money to support your program!

Electronic books are steadily

growing for many schools around

the country. Instead of buying print

textbooks, ask your teacher about

online text sources, or e-books. This

saves trees as well as money by

lowering the demand for printed

textbooks.

Discuss online school work with

your teacher. Using email to give

and turn in assignments will save

paper and may help your teacher

too!

When shopping for school supplies,

look for recycled notebooks and

paper goods. This will help reduce

the demand for manufactured

notebooks and will help conserve

trees.

August 2015 Green School Month

August 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

International

Homeless Animals

Day

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Earth’s First

Photograph Taken

from the Moon(1966)

30 31

Eat Outside Day

When shopping for school supplies this month, look for GREEN or eco-friendly products!

September 2015 Environmental Month

ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Environmental Games

Have students divide into teams, and

then create environmental games

that the class can play. The games

will help students learn about how

they can have an impact in a fun

and creative way. The games could

also include challenges for students to

clean up the school and make it

greener.

September 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4 5

National Wildlife

Day

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

World Ozone Day

World Water

Monitoring Day

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

First Day of Autumn

27 28 29 30

National Crush

A Can Day

ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Sustainable Halloween Décor

Instead of purchasing more

decorations, make your own recycled

Halloween décor this year. Here are

some ideas to get you started.

Milk Jug Ghosts: Take your old

milk jugs and draw ghost faces

on one side with black sharpies.

Cut a hole in the back, and insert

lights for a ghostly luminary.

Mummies: Take your old boxes

(cereal, crackers, granola bars,

etc.) and wrap them in a white,

ripped sheet or even toilet paper.

Glue googly eyes on one side,

and you have mummy

decorations.

Egg Carton Pumpkins: Cut the

egg “cups” out of the carton.

Paint the outside orange, and

cut a hole in the top of one.

Insert a green pipe cleaner for a

stem (or other green item), and

glue the two together to form a

pumpkin shape. Draw a face on

one side, and you have a

recycled Jack-O-Lantern.

October 2015 Recycling Month

October 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Make A Difference

Day

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Halloween

Make Your Mark Week

November 2015 Sustainability Month

ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Help the Community

Begin a “Help the Community” corner in

your classroom. In this corner, the

class can begin collecting items such as

trash bags and plastic gloves to use

for picking up litter at the local park, or extra

dog and cat food to be taken to

the local animal shelter.

Giving back to the community helps create

a sustainable community, and by working

together, your class can make a difference.

November 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Take a Hike Day

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Veterans Day World Kindness Day

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 America Recycles

Day/Use Less Stuff

Day

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Sustainability Day

29 30

December 2015 Green Shopping Month

ACTIVITY FOR THE MONTH

Go Green Shopping

As you are shopping for the perfect

holiday presents, keep in mind that what

you buy affects the environment. Go

“green shopping” and buy products that

will help save natural resources, conserve

energy and prevent waste.

The following are some tips to consider:

Buy recycled! Every time you

purchase a recycled product that

means more and more natural

resources are being saved. Buying

recycled products is easy – simply

look for the labels.

Buy durable, long-lasting products

like rechargeable batteries

Instead of disposable ones that

can be wasteful.

Avoid excess packaging. Don’t

buy anything that’s overly

packaged – it’s too much of a

waste. Instead, buy products with

reusable or recyclable packaging.

Buy energy-efficient items. When

buying TV’s, DVD or CD players,

look for the ENERGY STAR logo. It’s

a program designed to promote

energy-efficient products.

Take your own reusable bags.

Buy local.

December 2015 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2 3 4 5

Eat a Red Apple

Day

International

Volunteer Day

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 30

Don’t forget to recycle your holiday decorations and waste!