Cool the Earth
Encyclopedia
Cool the Earth Inc. is a non-profit educational organization based in Northern California. The mission of Cool the Earth is to educate kids and their families about climate change and motivate them to take simple measurable actions at home to reduce their carbon emissions. Currently, the organization offers programming to over 100 elementary schools.
documentary on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth
. Surprised by what they had learned, the Cullens held screenings of the film where parents from their community could view and discuss ways to fight climate changes. Despite their efforts, the Cullens realized that people were still slow to take action. Thus, Cool the Earth was established with other parent volunteers from their community to motivate people to make more eco-friendly choices. The program was first launched at Bacich Elementary School in Kentfield, California (the school that the Cullen's children attended at the time). Carleen Cullen mentioned running Cool the Earth out of her garage with 10 employees and several teachers and parent volunteers who work across the 25 North San Francisco Bay Area elementary and middle schools.
Since 2007, Cool the Earth has been responsible for motivating over 45,000 energy-saving actions to be taken by over 27,000 school children and family members—eliminating 37 million pounds of carbon from the atmosphere—with positive environmental benefits for the region.
Cool the Earth uses a child driven model to inspire families to conserve energy and resources. This model in which the family acts together out of concern for the dangers of global warming, has recently been cited by the first major "National Household Survey on Global Warming" as one of the most effective methods to create positive environmental change.. The program employs a method that engages all the children at school and gives them the tools to catalyze their parents so that the whole family reduces their carbon footprint. The program is built around community action. Children, parents, and teachers see that by working together, individual actions are meaningful.
Kids who participate are learning about consumption habits, and parents are becoming engaged in the climate change crisis—similar to how kids brought home the message of recycling and “don’t smoke.”
The organization has established partnerships with The Bay Area Air Board, The Chabot Space & Science Center, Marin Community Foundation, Marin Conservation Corps, Strategic Energy Innovations, Marin Municipal Water District
, Safe Routes to School, Al Gore’s The Climate Project.
The 3-5 month program measures the actions the children and their families take from a coupon book which goes home with the kids, and celebrates the results on a visible banner at school. Cool the Earth is successful because it is optimistic, action-oriented, and has measurable results in the community. This program is available to any elementary school in the country at http://cooltheearth.org. The program has already motivated over 44,000 kids and their families to take over 80,000 actions to reduce their carbon emissions, eliminating 60 million pounds of global warming gases from the atmosphere.
Aimed at kindergartners through eighth-graders, Cool the Earth is helping students at more than 100 California schools reuse, recycle and conserve by making small changes—both at school and at home. The program also operates in other schools around the country.
History
Cool the Earth was founded in 2007 by Marin County parents, Carleen and Jeff Cullen, in the North San Francisco Bay Area. The couple said that they were influenced by Al Gore'sAl Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
documentary on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth
An Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
. Surprised by what they had learned, the Cullens held screenings of the film where parents from their community could view and discuss ways to fight climate changes. Despite their efforts, the Cullens realized that people were still slow to take action. Thus, Cool the Earth was established with other parent volunteers from their community to motivate people to make more eco-friendly choices. The program was first launched at Bacich Elementary School in Kentfield, California (the school that the Cullen's children attended at the time). Carleen Cullen mentioned running Cool the Earth out of her garage with 10 employees and several teachers and parent volunteers who work across the 25 North San Francisco Bay Area elementary and middle schools.
Since 2007, Cool the Earth has been responsible for motivating over 45,000 energy-saving actions to be taken by over 27,000 school children and family members—eliminating 37 million pounds of carbon from the atmosphere—with positive environmental benefits for the region.
Method
The Cool the Earth flagship program was launched in 2007 and is now reaching over 95 schools, and over 60 aftercare centers, and Girl Scout troops in the Bay Area. The program has catalyzed over 80,000 energy-efficiency actions. CTEI offers a school-to-home program that is not curriculum-based.Cool the Earth uses a child driven model to inspire families to conserve energy and resources. This model in which the family acts together out of concern for the dangers of global warming, has recently been cited by the first major "National Household Survey on Global Warming" as one of the most effective methods to create positive environmental change.. The program employs a method that engages all the children at school and gives them the tools to catalyze their parents so that the whole family reduces their carbon footprint. The program is built around community action. Children, parents, and teachers see that by working together, individual actions are meaningful.
Kids who participate are learning about consumption habits, and parents are becoming engaged in the climate change crisis—similar to how kids brought home the message of recycling and “don’t smoke.”
The organization has established partnerships with The Bay Area Air Board, The Chabot Space & Science Center, Marin Community Foundation, Marin Conservation Corps, Strategic Energy Innovations, Marin Municipal Water District
Marin Municipal Water District
The Marin Municipal Water District is the government agency that provides drinking water to southern and central Marin County, California. Chartered in 1912, it became California's first municipal water district...
, Safe Routes to School, Al Gore’s The Climate Project.
Program
Currently available for free to any elementary school in the USA, the Cool the Earth program launches with a school-wide assembly featuring an age-appropriate play, which educates children about global warming and empowers them to take 20 low or no-cost actions to reduce their energy use at home.The 3-5 month program measures the actions the children and their families take from a coupon book which goes home with the kids, and celebrates the results on a visible banner at school. Cool the Earth is successful because it is optimistic, action-oriented, and has measurable results in the community. This program is available to any elementary school in the country at http://cooltheearth.org. The program has already motivated over 44,000 kids and their families to take over 80,000 actions to reduce their carbon emissions, eliminating 60 million pounds of global warming gases from the atmosphere.
Aimed at kindergartners through eighth-graders, Cool the Earth is helping students at more than 100 California schools reuse, recycle and conserve by making small changes—both at school and at home. The program also operates in other schools around the country.
Awards
- California Air Resources Board Excellence Award
- Jefferson Award (awarded to Carleen Cullen for founding Cool the Earth)
- Breathe California's Clean Air Award
- Flora Foundation Award for best non-profit four minute video
- MTC Award for Excellence in Transportation, October 2010