Alexandria City Public Schools

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MacArthur Students Participate in Innovative Projects to Help Fight Climate Change

This week, Douglas MacArthur Elementary School's Environmental Club is helping to fight climate change by supporting Carbonfund.org's innovative projects that are reducing carbon emissions worldwide.

The after-school club is removing 100 pounds of carbon from the atmosphere by donating points earned through the TerraCycle program.

The Environmental Club has set up drink pouch, energy bar wrapper and ink jet cartridge collections at school. Each week, the club sends these discards to TerraCycle, where the items are upcycled into new products. Not only is the waste kept out of landfills, the school receives two cents for every item collected. Groups also have the option of redeeming all or some of their earned TerraCycle points to help charities. The variety of charities from which to choose include programs that provide meals to those in need, plant trees, protect endangered lands and present farm animals or provide fresh drinking water to poverty stricken families.

TerraCycle purchases carbon offsets from Carbonfund.org to offset emissions from the atmosphere. Carbonfund.org achieves significant carbon reductions by supporting projects that bring renewable energy to villages in Gujurat, India; converting farm waste into renewable energy in the northeastern United States; and protecting the carbon-storage capacity of forests in the southern United States. Carbonfund.org is working to conserve millions of acres of tropical forest in Brazil and Indonesia. The wind projects in Gujarat, India, for example, are producing enough clean power to supply the equivalent energy needs of 60,000 homes.

For more information, contact MacArthur's Environmental Steward, Angie Moran, at .

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DID YOU KNOW?

Two ACPS "modified calendar" schools - Mount Vernon Community School and Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School - offer three intersessions throughout the school year, featuring a wide selection of both remedial and special-interest classes.