Staples High School among top four in CL&P 'green' competition

Kermit the Frog once said, "It ain't easy being green."

He apparently never got any advice from Staples High School's Club Green, which was recently awarded a $5,000 grant following a video and essay entry in Connecticut Light & Power's "Live Green -- Win Green" competition.

Bulkeley High School in Hartford took the big prize -- $20,000 -- but Staples beat out hundreds of high schools from 149 cities and towns within CL&P's area of coverage to place in the top four. Staples, along with two other schools, were selected as runners-up.

Club Green President AJ Kieffer said it feels great to get recognized.

"We want the prize money to continue to fund what we're doing," he said.

The club's video, submitted back in November, shows that recycling bins for old cellphones, ipods, batteries, compact flourescent bulbs and ink cartridges have been established at the entrance of Staples. In addition, a three bin waste disposable system has been set up in every classroom. There's a bin each for general waste, paper and bottles/cans. The video -- which can be viewed at livegreenwingreen.com -- also shows students showing off new efficient hand dryers that will reduce paper towel usage; the sign on campus that is a visual reminder of the school's new "no idling" policy and the school's edible garden, which was completed last summer after going through a fairly lengthy approval process.

One student says on the video: "We even compost all the waste from the garden."

The accompanying essay went into more detail on everything the various Club Green students are involved in. Kieffer, for instance, serves on the town's Green Task Force. Others are involved in Harbor Watch / River Watch (HW/RW), which seeks to help protect and restore the biological integrity of the Long Island Sound and its watershed. Club Green students also work with Westport Green Village Initiative (GVI), a new grass roots non-profit established in 2008 to support Westporters passionate about creating local environmental and community change. A few students have also started a a business called Soil Yourself Composting. They charge $5 a week to turn client's kitchen scraps, plants and lawn clippings, among other things, into quality compost.

Club Green plans to put most of the $5,000 grant toward EcoFest, an event it started last year and held at the Levitt Pavilion. Green Village Initiative helped Club Green defray the cost of the event last year. GVI would likely support it in some way this year as well, but the students that make up Club Green don't want to rely on others. It's all about being self-sustainable when possible. There was no admission for EcoFest, food was free and musicians entertained the approximately 2,000 people that showed up. Between sets, the high school students educated attendees about everything they have been working on.

Faculty advisor Mike Aitkenhead said some of the CL&P grant money might be used for purchase of an indoor compost system for the school cafeteria, whereby veggie scraps, food scraps, would be converted into high quality, nutrient-rich compost. The compost could then be used for the school's garden. Aitkenhead is also thinking of purchasing more tools for the garden so more people can make use of it.

Little by little, students and teachers are getting the message about recycling.

"Lack of understanding, lack of education, led to a lack of recycling," Aitkenhead said. The students who make up Club Green were not forced to join the group as part of a class requirement. They chose to join on their own free will.

"They're concerned about issues and want to do something about it," Aitkenhead said.

While Staples has a thorough recycling program, Atkenhead said the next goal of the group is to expand the recycling program.

"We need to make it more uniform across the district," he said. "We're reaching out to a lot of the younger students so that the message is implanted, so that when they reach high school they're living this greener lifestyle."

Other things Club Green has in the works is a planned campaign for a large solar panel at Staples and training students to perform energy audits at home, including, but not limited to, replacing old-fashioned lightbulbs with compact flourescent bulbs and convincing parents to switch to Energy Star-rated appliances.