Promoting the Golden Rule of environmental sustainability…
Do unto future generations as you would have them do unto you.
VOLUME 4, ISSUE 1
Green News
Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Sustainable Schools Newsletter
Progress
We had a great turnout for
the Sustainable School Liaison (SSL) professional development course in September.
There were 67 participants
representing 57 different
schools across Virginia
Beach. Green News would like
to thank all of those who
participated, and we look
forward to hearing about
your successes throughout
the year.
Many of the schools have
put a great deal of effort in to
raising awareness about environmental sustainability over
the past year, and we are off
to a great start this year.
For example, at the end of
last school year, Lynnhaven
Middle school did an outstanding job of raising environmental awareness by educating the entire school on
the impact of storm water
W INTE R 2 0 0 9
runoff in our area. By constructing rain gardens, outdoor teaching areas and a
butterfly garden as part of
their “Lynnhaven Legacy”
project, they were able to
teach the entire student
population about the significance of the Lynnhaven Watershed. The students also
produced a video that was
shown to the entire school.
Kemps Landing Magnet
began this school year with
the theme, “Going Green.”
This past September, they
devoted an entire day to environmental education. The
day began with Karen Forget,
of Lynnhaven River Now,
addressing the entire school
about the environmental
significance of the Lynnhavenn River in our area.
The rest of the day was devoted to students interacting
with representatives from 27
different environmental organizations ranging from
NASA to the Sierra club. By
the end of the day, the students had a better understanding of environmental
issues, and the various representatives had a genuine
appreciation for what teachers go through when they
stay on their feet and answer
questions for seven hours
straight.
Lynnhaven River Now
2
Uranium Mining in VA
2
A Closer Look
3
Check this Out
4
The Bigger Picture
4
There has also been a great
deal of interest in aquaponics
since the last Green News was
published, and many schools
have picked up the pace by
starting environmental clubs
and initiating programs like
cell-phone recycling.
Corporate Landing Middle
has taken recycling to a new
level by having students turn
in a used cell phone, or two
used printer ink cartridges,
in lieu of money for admission to the school dance in
November.
If your school is taking an
unusual approach to increasing environmental awareness,
then drop us a line and let us
know. We will post as many
as we can on
www.vbschools.com/
greenschools
Kemps Landing Magnet kicks off “Go Green” Day
Inside this issue:
Everyone who has ever
taken a shower has had
an idea. It’s the person
who gets out of the
shower, dries off and
does something about it
who makes a difference.”
Nolan Bushnell
Lynnhaven River Now
The major factor that caused
the degradation of the Lynnhaven River is also now the
river’s biggest strength and hope
for the future: PEOPLE.
In 2003, a committed group of
local citizens came together to
foster partnerships that would
apply public and private resources to the challenge of reducing pollution in the Lynnhaven. That core group formed
the nucleus of what has grown
into an award-winning river
restoration project with over
2,500 members called Lynnhaven River NOW. “Now”
because the work of restoring
and protecting the beautiful
Lynnhaven River is something
that we can do NOW for ourselves and for our children and
grandchildren.
Our goal is a clean and healthy
Lynnhaven River and our objectives are (1) to identify and
reduce sources of contamination in the river; reduce nutrients, sediments and chemicals
running off of our lawns, parking lots, roadways and out of
our septic systems; (2) to edu-
cate and engage the community
and partner organizations in
restoring and protecting the
Lynnhaven River; and (3) to
restore lost habitats such as
oyster reefs, salt marshes, and
other buffers that help to filter
polluted runoff and protect the
river and its marine life.
The average dog produces ¾ lb.
of waste every day. With
60,000 dogs in our watershed,
that equals 45,000 lbs. of waste
every day. One Canada Goose
produces 89 lbs. of waste per
year. That adds up to a lot of
harmful bacteria in our waterways.
The Lynnhaven River watershed is home to half of the
people in Virginia Beach and
thirty-five of our public schools.
It is also home to approximately
60,000 dogs which is why
“scooping the poop” is an important component of reducing
harmful bacteria in the river.
Here is a short list of other ways
that you can help to protect
water quality in the Lynnhaven
and in all of our rivers and the
Chesapeake Bay:
3.) Use Water-Friendly Landscaping Practices
Fertilize less or not at all…
Replace part of your lawn with
mulched beds…Use native
plants in your landscape…create
permeable surfaces…build a rain
garden.
1.) Take Responsibility for
What Goes Down your Drains.
Sweep your gutters; keep leaves,
grass clippings, sediments and
other debris out of the storm
drains. Do not put grease and
fats down the drain.
2.) Scoop the Poop & Don’t
Feed Wildlife
4.) Practice Clean Boating
Pump, don’t dump, the Lynnhaven River is a No Discharge
Zone…Use Marine Approved
products…Fill, don’t spill, fill
your gas tank to ¾ only
5.) Raise Oysters for Reef
Restoration
Oysters are our natural water
filters and reefs provide habitat
for many species
6.) Install a Rain Barrel
Rain Barrels are an easy way to
According to the Southern
Environmental Law Center,
“There is no precedent for
large-scale uranium mining in
eastern states such as Virginia,
where the population density
puts more people at risk and
where a wetter climate increases the chance of radiation
contaminating streams and
Page 2
groundwater. Virginia has no
regulations for uranium mining, and the federal government has virtually no experience regulating the activity in
a wet climate.”
There are three forms of
uranium mining: open pit
mining, deep mining, and insitu leaching. In open pit mining they dig a large hole in the
ground to extract the ore.
Deep mining involves digging
shafts in the ground to reach
ore at greater depths. Finally,
In-situ leaching injects a liquid
in to underground uranium
deposits to extract the uranium. The liquid is pumped
back to the surface where the
7.) Talk to your Neighbors;
Talk to your Legislators
Let people know that environmental quality is important to
you. Schedule a Lynnhaven
River NOW presentation for
your Civic League, Garden
Club, School PTA or our civic
group.
8.) Become a Pearl School
Your school can join the growing list of Virginia Beach
Schools being honored for their
excellent environmental initiatives.
9.) Join Lynnhaven River
NOW and support Restoration
and Protection of the Lynnhaven River
60,000 dogs in VB
produce 45,000 lbs. of
waste a day. Scoop the
Poop and keep harmful
bacteria out of our waterways
Uranium Mining in Virginia
Uranium was discovered in
Virginia in the 1970s. The
initial proposal to mine at that
time resulted in a statewide
moratorium on uranium mining. In 2007, a Virginia company went public with its
plans to develop a uranium
mine in Pittsylvania County
VA.
capture the water from your
downspouts and reduce the
runoff from your property.
uranium is extracted from the
liquid.
According to the Piedmont
Environmental Council; pit
mining will most likely be
used in Pittsylvania with the
possibility of some deep mining as well (in the 1980s a 110acre wide, 850-foot deep hole
was proposed for this site.)
So the big questions really
are: What are the environmental consequences of uranium mining? And, is it safe?
In order to extract uranium
from ore (this operation is
called milling) the ore is
crushed into sand-sized particles and water is used to leach
out the uranium . The ura-
nium is then dewatered,
dried, and packaged into a
product referred to as “yellow
cake.” The reason that in-situ
mining is so popular is because it combines the mining
and milling operations.
Enormous quantities of
radioactive waste are generated by uranium mining and
milling. This waste is called
“tailings.” Only two to four
pounds of concentrated uranium oxide “yellow cake” are
obtained from each ton of
ore taken out of the ground.
The remaining tailings contain 85% of the original radioactivity and remain radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years.
Volume 4, Issue 1
Aside from the tailings, there
is another waste byproduct in
the form of contaminated
water. The water that is used
in the uranium extraction
process must also be treated as
a hazardous material. This
hazardous waste water must be
contained for thousands of
years. The original proposal
for the Pittsylvania site would
have resulted in an estimated
waste pile that would cover
930 acres at a 100 foot depth.
vania County, there will be
hundreds of acres of radioactive waste and millions of
gallons of water contaminated
by the mining and milling
process. Not only will this
contaminated waste water
affect the people who live in
close proximity to the mine, it
is also part of the watershed
that feeds directly into Lake
Gaston which is where we get
our water.
Mining has not begun in
this area yet. If you are interested in learning more about
the status of Uranium Mining in VA you can go to:
www.pecva.org and click on
“hot topics.”
The radioactive waste
produced by uranium
In addition, rainwater that
falls on contaminated materials from the mining and milling process can flow in to
streams or leach in to aquifers.
mining and milling
operations is stored on
site for more than
1,000 years.
At the proposed Coles Hill
uranium mining site in Pittsyl-
Drinking Water Sources Downstream from the Proposed
Coles Hill Uranium Mining Site Download this map at
Virginia Conservation Network
www.vbschools.com/greenschools
A Closer Look:
When completed, the Renaissance Academy will be the
first building of its kind in the
country. The combination of
educational programs, multi functionality and sustainable
features make this building
truly unique. As of this writing, the building is approximately 60% complete and on
schedule.
Past issues of Green News
have highlighted “green” features that will be included in
the Renaissance Academy.
These “green” features include
solar hot water, a green roof,
photo voltaic cells, and a rainwater collection system, just to
mention a few.
What many readers don’t
know is that all of these systems will be monitored online and any Renaissance
Academy student will be able
to monitor the efficiency of all
of the various environmental
Green News
systems.
For example, students will be
able to access the rainwater
collection data to determine
how much water is in the
system and how much water
has been collected.
By giving students access to a
user-friendly interface that
explains systems such as daylight sensors in classrooms
and the geothermal heating
and cooling system, we are
ultimately educating the public about the value of environmentally sustainable systems
in the built environment.
When a student can see the
direct relationship between
the energy savings in a classroom that relies on good daylight design rather than artificial lighting, and how this
corresponds to reduced utility
cost, then it becomes a tangi-
ble experience. This data is
then is amplified by the knowledge of how many gallons of
oil, barrels of water and trees,
these systems save. All of these
comparisons, and more, will be
available when this system is
online.
In addition to having all of
this data online for schools
throughout the division to access, this information will be
available throughout the country.
Primary and secondary
schools, as well as colleges and
universities, will be able to access the data in order to educate the broader public about
the value of environmental
sustainability in the built environment.
For this building, renaissance is
more than just a name.
The Main Entrance at Renaissance Academy
Page 3
Check This Out
Web sites:
Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Sustainable Schools Newsletter
School Administration Annex
P.O. Box 6038– Building 16
Virginia Beach VA 23456
Phone: 757-263.1090
Fax: 757—263.1511
E-mail: greennews@vbschools.com
www.earth-policy.org
You can download an electronic version of Plan B 3.0 at this site.
www.Lynnhavenrivernow.org
For more information on Lynnhaven
River Now.
Other:
Sundance Film Channel.
Dedicates Tuesday nights to
shows dedicated to the environment. Check out Greenzine at
their web site.
by Thomas L. Friedman
Planet Green TV
The Tyranny of Oil:
by Antonia Juhasz
www.southernenvironment.org
For more information on environmental issues throughout the south.
You can subscribe to Green
News and find archive issues on
our Web page at:
www.vbschools.com/
greenschools.
Publications:
Hot ,Flat and
Crowded– Why we
need a Green Revolution and how it can
Renew America:
Plan B 3.0– Mobilizing
to Save Civilization:
This channel is sponsored by
the Discovery channel and has
24-hour environmental programming.
www.planetgreen.discovery.co
m/tv/
by Lester R. Brown
www.pedva.org
For more information on the Piedmont Environmental Council.
The Bigger Picture
What did the Zen
master say to the
hot dog vendor?
Make me one with
everything.
How does environmental
sustainability affect national
security? It seems that there is
a perception that if you are
pro environment, then you
are undermining our national
security. In David Friedman’s
new book Hot, Flat and
Crowded he talks about the fall
of the iron curtain and how it
was directly related to oil
prices. According to Friedman, the sharp rise of oil
prices in the 1970s allowed
the Soviet Union to be flush
with cash. This wealth encouraged Russia to overextend
its economic subsides at home
while increasing its military
presence in places like Afghanistan. When oil prices
dropped in the late 1980s and
early 1990s, Russia had overextended itself and, in effect,
went broke. We are seeing
history repeat itself today. An
influx of oil wealth allows
countries like Venezuela, Iran
and Russia to puff out their
chests, talk tough, and pursue
an agenda that is not necessarily in line with the rest of the
democratic world.
So how do we lessen the
influence of these petroleumrich regimes? We can start by
paying less attention to catchy
slogans like “drill here, drill
now.” This problem cannot be
solved with additional drilling
on U.S. soil. (You can refer to
the last issue of Green News for
more information on this.)
The real answer to getting away
from a reliance on the Middle
East and curbing the aggression
of petroleum-rich countries is to
develop environmentally sustainable energy practices here at
home. In other words, if national security is important to
you, then you should be doing
everything you can to promote
environmental sustainability.
Because “green” is the new red,
white, and blue.
Think Big, Start Small, Act Now!
The Virginia Beach City Public Schools prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy and childbirth, or
marital status. School Board policies and supporting regulation (Policies 2-33, 4-4, 5-7, and 6-7 and Regulation 5-44.1) provide equal access to courses, programs, counseling services,
physical education and athletics, vocational education, instructional materials, and extracurricular activities. Violations of these policies should be reported to the Director of Student Leadership at 263-2020 or the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at 263-1133.
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