Mind your Carbon

Rabat American School’s MUN delegates, getting their hands dirty (photo: RAS).

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Sometimes you need to put your money where your mouth is, as the Irish say.

In April of 2011 the high school Model United Nations (MUN) delegates at Rabat American School (RAS) in Morocco decided to offset the carbon emissions of their trip to the International MUN in Budapest, Hungary.

They stayed in a “green certified” hotel, used public transportation, and brought reusable water bottles. However, there was no plausible “green” way to get to Hungary.

The students explored carbon offsetting, and researched various “carbon calculators” such as CarbonFund.org, coming up with a verified total of 13.34 metric tons of CO2 that needed to be offset. The cost of this offset was a mere US$120, which would go to CarbonFund to plant trees.

This past year (2012), the next generation of RAS delegates took the concept further. After attending the MUN in Germany, they voted to do three things differently. First, they chose a different carbon-offsetting program, Carbon Offsets to Alleviate Poverty (COTAP), whereby the money goes to not only to tree planting but also to training and employing needy people. Secondly, they took time to learn about, and then volunteer, on an organic farm near RAS. Finally, they successfully lobbied the school board to adopt a carbon offsetting policy for all future school trips!

RAS is one of the only schools in the world to have taken this step. The school also developed a thriving paper and plastic recycling program (run by students); does on-campus composting; and changed all default fonts to Century Gothic (which consumes less ink).

Make change happen!

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05/23/2013 - jdeloret
This is awesome. So simple yet so inspiring. I will share this with all my friends that take their students on field trips. Nice work kids!

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