Green Club Registration Form

 

About Our School

Walker Elementary is the first sustainable design school in the state of Texas, we are proud to have been honored by the American Institute of Architects on their Earth Day Top 10 List for Environmentally Responsible Design Projects in the nation! We are creating environmental awareness among our young "Walker Stars" as well as excitement about learning.

Sustainable design has been defined as "environmentally sensitive architecture and engineering which incorporate the ability to meet today’s needs without compromising the resources available to future generations." Teaching tools were incorporated throughout the building as part of its design.

Our Environmental Design includes:
Daylighting
Daylighting is the school’s key ingredient. Vertical monitors in each room to "scoop" the natural sunlight to provide natural daylight throughout the building. Light and motion detectors monitor energy usage.

Rainwater Harvesting
 Six cisterns surrounding the school provide storage for up to 68,000 gallons of collected rainwater. The school is designed to collect all rainwater that hits the roof. This rainwater is used to irrigate the landscaping and drastically reduces monthly water bills.

Wind Energy
 A windmill harnesses the natural and cost-free energy of the wind to circulate the harvested rainwater.

Solar Energy
 A series of solar panels supplies the majority of the school’s hot water needs.

Additional sustainable features include two sundials, a water habitat, natural landscaping, student garden areas, sustainable building materials, and newly designed indoor air quality technology.

 

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

What exactly is "waste"? Simply speaking, waste is anything discarded, rejected, surplused, abandoned, or otherwise released into the environment in a manner (or quantity) that could have an impact on that environment.

Recycle means to process old, used items in order that the material can be used to make new products. Examples of things that are often recycled are glass, plastic, newspapers, aluminum cans, used motor oil, and batteries.

Reduce refers to lessening the amount of items or resources that are consumed, using only the amount that is needed, and looking for alternatives that will lessen our use.  This could be not buying a gadget we don’t really need or turning off a light that doesn’t need to be on.

Reuse means extending the 'life' or repurposing an item rather than discarding or throwing it away. This would include reusing the plastic bags you end up with from the grocery store or handing-down old clothes or making a quilt out of squares from old clothes.