Cats for Cubs – Project Polar Bear Our team believes it is time to take action at Springfield High School to reduce our carbon footprint for a stable environment. One goal is to show the student body how our daily activities can have a negative impact on the environment. We will show the students how recycling and a few other small changes can make a large positive environmental impact. The main focus of this project will be to create a sustainable recycling program that will start at our high school, then become incorporated into all of the buildings within our school district.

Project Plan: 1. Create a sustainable recycling program starting at Springfield High School. 2 main products that will be recycled are Paper and Plastic Bottles - Funds collected through the paper recycling program will be used to buy the following: a. Recycling bins for the entire high school campus and then help provide bins throughout district b. Adopt a Polar Bear through PBI and/or Cincinnati Zoo - The lids from the plastic drink bottles will be separated, weighed and then calculated to record how much CO2 is reduced from not placing product into landfill. Then lids will be taken to local companies that uses them to make recycled plastic products. 2. Create 5th grade interactive learning centers that will be used to inform students within the district, as well as reinforce the state’s science standard on Renewable Resources, Recycling, Environmental Changes for the Ohio Achievement Assessment (OAA) 3. Since Renewable Resources is also a 9th/10th grade benchmark, we will build a 9th grade green team that will help monitor, educate and maintain the program once we graduate in 2013. 4. Conduct classroom energy audits to assess current classroom environment, then create CO2 reduction plans for these classrooms to follow. These rooms will be assessed weekly to monitor the students daily actions and calculate how much CO2 emissions have been reduced. This will be accomplished by create the following: 1. Hold a kick-off event with local media to draw community support. 2. Create Public Service Announcements that will be played on WCAT (school’s tv station) 3. Create articles for our school’s community newsletter and local newspaper 4. Create, maintain page on school’s website to spread the message of recycling 5. Educate our 9th grade green team (Science Buddies) in order to gain by in with the underclassmen for sustainability of project.