Green Panthers

Good News from the Cafeteria

2009-05-07T16:57:00.006+07:00

A while back the Q3 environmental class surveyed students to see how they felt about some possible environmental changes. Most of the results were encouraging, thus we followed up with a survey to the teachers/staff and then the parents. Again most results were encouraging. One of the changes was to switch to recycled/unbleached napkins. However, these napkins are more expensive and we asked people if they would donate money for this cause. More than 140 people said they would donate and I thank you all for your support, however the money is no longer needed. The cafeteria (Epicure) kindly agreed they would pick up the tab on this one since they believe in the cause and want to contribute to the environmental movement at ISB. We are also partnering up with a new business on this. You may have noticed the new smoothie stand at Villa called Twist. Well, their owner is also very aware of environmental issues and will have the same napkins.

It’s great to see other businesses getting on board and actively looking for solutions. Let’s give a big thanks to Cynthia U. from Epicure and Mike R. from Twist for making this happen. For the rest of us, let's make sure we do our part and listen to the message: Be part of the solution; take only what you need.

Saving Paper in the Library

2009-05-07T16:41:00.005+07:00

5 years ago ISB delivered a blue box to every classroom and office to collect waste paper for recycling. This still continues today and although it is good to recycle, it is much better to just use less paper in the first place and then reuse what you can. The library is now taking measures to make this happen.
According to Stephen Lehmann the print/copy numbers at ISB has reduced 5% even though student numbers increased during that time. Mr. Lehmann also states that “Now in the MS/HS library students use their card to make photocopies and the money is deducted from their campus card account. For printing, if it color the student is charged to their card. If is black and white printing there is no charge but there is a monthly limit of 100 copies. When printing color or black and white the student has to go to the printer and release the job.” Doing this ensures the print jobs are always picked up. At the end of the day, any jobs that were printed and were not picked up are canceled.
According to some library staff, the amount of wasted paper before just piled up each day without being picked up and since these new measures have come in, there is little to no waste. Thus, the measures have not stopped students from printing when needed, but has reduced the amount of careless and unnecessary printing. In other words, they have to be more responsible and less wasteful.

Finalists for the Eco Bag Eco-mmercial

2009-05-05T23:09:00.005+07:00

Central Shopping Centers are trying to reduce plastic bag use. ISB held a video contest to support this cause. The winner will win a 5000 baht gift voucher for the shopping center and have their video played at Central Chidlom for a month!

Here are the finalists. Which one would you pick?

Thanks to all those who entered the contest and especially Jacob J. and David S. for making the finals.

300 Trees Planted and a Trip to the Eco Center

2009-05-05T22:36:00.009+07:00

On May 2nd, 2009, 60+ ISB students went to Sirindhorn International Environmental Park and planted 300 trees. We also had some time at the beach and checked out the environmental center.

30 Percent Greener

2009-05-01T08:26:00.002+07:00

By Bill Gerritz

Many students, staff and parents have been working to make ISB a more environmentally friendly, greener school. Much of this work has been done by our Green Panthers. Recently, three additional efforts have also achieved success.

#1 --- We have signed a contract to renew the air conditioning and lighting systems in the school. The result will be a reduction in CO2 emissions of 850,000 Kg per year or about 30% of the total amount of CO2 produced at School. In a significant side benefit, the new air conditioners will be very quiet, a big deal for students and staff bothered by our noisy old ones.

The contract represents a four way partnership between ISB, Clinton Climate Initiative, Johnson Control and the Thai Ministry of Energy. The combination of low interest loans from the Ministry and energy savings will give us a payback period of about 7.5 years. All work will be completed by the end of July.

#2 ---Construction of our new Cultural Center proceeds in accordance to plan and we are on course with our target of achieving the LEED Gold Certificate (from the U.S. Green Building Council). Energy models of our building in comparison with standard U.S. buildings confirm that our building will be a minimum of 29% more energy efficient. Needless to say that if our new building was to be compared with standard buildings in Bangkok the saving percentage would be much higher

#3 --- Last year we added about 144 bike parking places as an extension to the main entrance parking. In an attempt to encourage more students, teachers and parents who live in the vicinity of the school to use their bike as a means of transportation, and in order to resolve the congestion in the Elementary bike parking area, we’ll extend the bike parking capacity during the summer with a construction similar to the one done last summer on the other side. Our total bike parking capacity will go from 427 places 2 years ago and 571 places this year to 715 places by the beginning of August 2009.

Earth week is over

2009-04-24T14:03:00.002+07:00

Thank you all for participating in Earth Week each day. There are many tickets in the raffle giving you a chance to win prizes.

300 Trees to Plant

2009-04-24T13:30:00.005+07:00

NOTICE – Departure time has changed to 8:00 am

Plan
Depart from ISB 08:00 am
Arrive at beach: 11:00
Lunch at beach: 12:00/12:30
Presentation and

conservation center: 12:30

Tree planting: 14:30
Return: 16:00/16:30

Arrival at ISB: 19:30

We have over 60 people signed up to go. The trip is now closed

What you will need:

Sun cream and hat
Clothes to swim and clothes to get wet and dirty.
3 pairs of old socks. You cannot wear shoes in the mud because they will come off. Socks are to protect your feet. Trust me on this one, you want the socks!
Spending money. We will cover the cost of the bus, trees, and equipment, but you will need to cover the cost of food (at a restaurant) and their might be a 30 baht beach charge.
Reusable water bottle – you will get thirsty.
Camera
Phone (in case we are coming back earlier or later)

Since this in an environmental trip, please keep that in mind and try to reduce your trash as much as possible. We will purposely NOT bring a trash bag. So anything you bring with you will also leave with you (Pack it in – Pack it out!)

Special thanks to HS student Howard Zhang for making this project happen.

Ban Plastic Bags in Thailand

2009-04-24T12:59:00.003+07:00

It's becoming more and more obvious that banning plastics bags around the world is a good thing. We have started a list on Facebook to see if we can get 100,000 people to say 'Ban plastic bags in Thailand'. In fact if you type in those words you will find us and can join.

What's really cool is the Earth Day announcement made by the government. They are actually planning on doing this already. Of course, we should still sign up to show them support. However, read the article below and see for yourself.

Cutting back on plastic bags

BANGKOK: -- On the occasion of Earth Day yesterday, the Natural Resource and Environment Ministry launched a campaign to cut plastic-bag consumption in the country by at least 10 per cent. Currently, Thais dispose of 1,800 tonnes of used plastic bags every day.

"We are focusing on plastic bags because they pose a serious threat to the environment," Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti said. "If plastic-bag consumption is successfully reduced, carbon dioxide emissions will also drop."

Plastic does not compose on its own and with more than 40,000 tonnes of garbage collected every day, transportation to disposal facilities or landfills also gets expensive.

Suwit hopes the public will co-operate in the campaign, which runs until June 5.

"Plastic bags are a part of people's every day life, and they can make a difference right away," Suwit said.

The campaign has won participation from many businesses, including Foodlands, Villa Market, The Mall, Jusco, Siam Makro, Siam Paragon, Siam Centre, Carrefour, 7-Eleven, Robinson and Big C.

Suwit said his ministry was also planning to manufacture bio-plastic bags that can decompose naturally.

"Although bio-plastic bags cost more to produce, the government might introduce tax measures to help," he said, adding that the government was also adopting many measures to reduce global warming.

"We plan to reduce petrol consumption, increase green areas and introduce carbon labels," he said.

-- The Nation 2009-04-23

ISB 'really' goes green!

2009-04-24T12:46:00.004+07:00

For 3-4 years now ISB has been improving environmentally by initiating projects to increase environmental awareness and action at school. We have made many little changes that have contributed to the goal. However, there was there was something missing. No matter how many little changes we made the school building itself was still very much an energy hog. That is all about to change. ISB will retrofit the building with energy efficient products. See the letter below that came from the ISB administration. On behalf of the Green Panthers I would like to thank the school for taking this action.

ISB GREEN NEWS:
An Update on Our Efforts to Become a Greener School

1. CHANGE of LIGHTING and AIR-CO Equipment

Last year around this time we formed a partnership with an Energy Saving Company (Johnson Control, JC) and the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) to work together on a possible retrofitting of our buildings. As a first step we conducted an Energy Audit, with the goal of getting a thorough and detailed understanding of our energy consumption and to formulate recommendations for improvement.

After many months spent in reviewing and re-checking the audit results, choosing and testing the applicable products and negotiating contracts and prices, we have finally concluded 2 agreements last week, which will allow us to reduce CO2 emissions by 850,000 Kg per year (this is about 30% of the total amount of CO2 produced at School)

We’ll increase quality of life and comfort. We’ll reduce the negative effects of CO2 on the planet. Last, but not least, we’ll save money in the long run.

With a net investment of about 37 Million Baht, we estimate to save about 5 Million Baht a year. This means that the investment is paid back in about 7.5 years. The majority of the funds for this investment are loaned via a program sponsored by the Thai Ministry of Energy at interest rates substantially lower than market rates.

Except for the units installed during the building renovations of the last 2 years, we’ll replace all of the old, so-called split type units (the ones hanging below the ceilings in the classrooms) with 645 new energy efficient, modern, substantially more quiet , wall mounted units. If you would like to see them in action, please go to the Elementary School (room 113 Scott O’Neill’s Spanish classroom).

We’ll also change all of the 23 large central units (Offices, Chevron Theater, Rajendra Hall, Main Library etc) with new high efficiency units.

As part of the agreement with JC and CCI we will also change the lighting in the Main Library, for the main purpose of increasing the Lux level.

Another Company (Econo-Watd, Thai Energy Conservation Co.) will change all of the lights in the classrooms and corridors from old so-called T8 technology to the new energy efficient T5 technology.

Street lights, sport hall lights, sport field lights will not be changed at this time, since they are still reasonably efficient and the savings from replacement related to the needed investment do not make environmental-financial sense.

TIMING: the change of the lighting will start in a few weeks, while the change of the air-co will be done during the summer. The agreed deadline to have all of the work completed is July 31, 2009, so that we can be fully operational at the beginning of the school year 2009/10.

All of the planning is directed toward an as low as possible disruption of daily learning and working routines.

2. CULTURAL CENTER

The construction proceeds in accordance to plan and we are on course with our target of achieving the LEED Gold Certificate (from the US Green Building Council). Energy models of our building in comparison with standard US buildings confirm that our building is a minimum of 29% more energy efficient. Needless to say that if our new building was to be compared with standard buildings in Bangkok the saving percentage would be much higher.

3. ADDITIONAL BIKE PARKING

Last year we added about 144 bike parking places as an extension to the main entrance parking. This addition, although not crowded, proves that there has been a constant increase of bike use to get to school.

In an attempt to encourage more students, teachers and parents who live in the vicinity of the school to use their bike as means of transportation and in order to resolve the congestion in the Elementary bike parking area, we’ll extend during the summer the bike parking capacity with a construction similar to the one done last summer on the other side.

So our total bike parking capacity will go from 427 places 2 years ago and 571 this year to 715 by the beginning of August 2009.

What a month!!

2009-04-09T00:53:00.005+07:00

Why has April been a good month for the environment at ISB?

Well, April 22 is Earth Day all over the world and plenty of people will do something for the planet. However, a lot will happen at ISB this week.

We have a month long 'Power Down' event to save energy at school.
April 20-24th we will celebrate Earth Week with several events
ISB will install a 48 inch, energy efficient flat screen TV in the cafeteria to display photos, videos, and events about ISB students taking action for several global issues, such as poverty, environment, and education for all.
We are planning a tree planting trip to offset carbon emissions from our school flights. Ok, this is actually on May 2, but you get the point.
Biggest News... ISB is taking major steps to reduce its energy usage. The school has just announced in will retrofit the building to change to more efficient lights and air con.

In a statment from the director, ISB will

"reduce CO2 emissions by 850,000 Kg per year

(this is about 30% of the total amount of CO2 produced at School)

We’ll increase quality of life and comfort. We’ll reduce the negative effects of CO2 on the planet. Last, but not least, we’ll save money in the long run. With a net investment of about 37 Million Baht, we estimate to save about 5 Million Baht a year. This means that the investment is paid back in about 7.5 years."

This is exciting news and reason to celebrate.

Earth Week 2009

2009-04-09T00:00:00.008+07:00

Earth Week is coming! This year we have scaled it back and simplified the activities due to some unforeseen events. However, it will still be interactive and effective. We have prizes to be won from a raffle and the only way to get tickets for the raffle is to participate. Each time you participate you get a ticket, thus, the more you participate, the more you increase your chances of winning.

Events 1-6 will occur each day during Earth Week (April 20-24)

1. Burn Calories; Not Oil

a. Walk, ride bike or take any way to school that does not burn oil.

b. We will have people waiting at all 3 gates. See them to get your ticket.

2. BYOB – Bring Your Own Bottle (water bottle that is).

a. Bring your own reusable water bottle each day. Come to the Green Panthers table set up in the cafeteria. Show us the bottle and get a ticket. Use a Green Panther water bottle and get two tickets.

3. Food For Thought:

a. Eat only vegetarian or organic food each day and get a ticket.

4. Buy a Tree

a. Each tree cost 40 baht. Green Panthers and others will plant trees on May 2^nd in a location 3 hours south of Bangkok.

b. Each tree you buy is worth 2 tickets.

c. Sign up to join us too if you want.

5. Prove it to the planet

a. Take our list of things to try at home to help the planet. Prove to us that you did it and get a ticket. List will be on our table in the cafeteria during Earth Week.

b. Maybe you can prove it by taking a picture or video with your phone or camera. Please don’t print. Remember it has to be proof.

6. Super Shopper

a. Show us what you buy. If the products are eco friendly get a ticket. For example;

b. Shampoo that is not tested on animals, pencil made from recycled paper, solar charger for phone, organic products, phosphate free laundry detergent, non-toxic cleaning product; eco friendly paper, bring it all in a reusable eco bag and wear an organic shirt.

Reuse – Items to be donated to charity. (Tuesday, April 21^st)

o Look through all that ‘junk’, see what you don’t need that might be more useful to someone else. Donate it to a charity.

o Sections will be set up in front near school drop off point for easy off loading.

§ Clothes

§ Toys

§ Books

§ Games

§ Sports equipment

o Note – You can actually donate all week, but we will only be there to give tickets on Tuesday.

Recycle – Wednesday April 22^nd only (Earth Day).

o Bring in items to recycle. 1 ticket per bundle of items. 10 tickets maximum.

o Recycling bins will be brought to front of school near main office.

§ Plastic bottles (no glass)

§ Cans

§ Aluminum tabs

§ Newspapers

§ Magazines

§ Batteries

§ Tetra Pak (Juice boxes). Yes, we are recycling these again.

§ Printer cartridges

§ Cell phones and cell phone batteries

Eco Bag Eco-mmercial

Video about the harmful effects of plastic bags. It should promote using Central eco bags instead of plastic bags.
a. All entries will receive 1 ticket.
b. Winner will receive 5 tickets, plus win 5000 baht gift voucher at Central.
c. Video will play at Central Chaengwattana for 1 month.
d. Contest details required by Central so follow closely:

Video must be 60 seconds or less.
Must show Central logo at some point.
Must promote the Central eco bag. (This bag can also be used as a savings card)
More details on http://green-panthers.blogspot.com/

e. Videos due to Mr. Dyke by April 20th. Winner picked on 22nd.

Power Down... Money Up

2009-04-08T23:48:00.004+07:00

Students can earn money and help the planet.

a. All over the school we want you to ‘Power Down’ and save energy. This doesn’t mean learning in the dark; it simply means not being wasteful and save where appropriate.

Use the windows for most of your light.
Use AC as much as needed; but not more. And make sure door is closed.
Don’t leave computers, AC, and lights on when no one is using it.

b. Electricity bill of April 2008 (approx. 1,300,000 baht) will be compared with April 2009.

c. All the money (electricity) you save in April 2009 will be used for the Power Down grand prize. Therefore, the more electricity you save the more money there is to be won.

d. Groups can enter a charity, school club, or worthy cause into the grand prize contest. The winners will be drawn out of a hat. If that group is picked the money will go towards their cause. Group examples:

Charity – WWF, Elephant Nature Park, Operation Smile.
School club – Dance team, GIN, Helping Paws, Green Panthers, etc.
Cause – Any worthy cause you can think of, such as money for school project.

e. All groups MUST register with Ms. Tananone in Activities Office before April 22.

Eco Survey for Change at ISB

2009-03-22T19:20:00.005+07:00

We are looking at some things we can make more environmentally friendly at ISB. We need you to let us know if you want these changes or not.

Click Here to take survey

Earth Hour - Will you vote?

2009-03-17T00:15:00.004+07:00

MARCH 28th you can make a stand. EARTH HOUR: Turn off your electricity for 1 hour from 8:30pm - 9:30pm.

Will you vote for the earth this year? Let us know if you will participate by leaving a comment.

The lost eco-mmercial

2009-03-16T23:22:00.005+07:00

MS students Zach and Matt made this excellent eco-mmercial for the original contest. This video got second place and was very close to winning. However, it could not be uploaded until now. So enjoy this powerful message.

Don't forget to enter in the new eco-mmercial contest with Central. Details are here.

You Vote on Possible Changes

2009-03-03T14:42:00.009+07:00

The students in the Environmental Stewardship class are looking at making a few more environmental improvements at ISB. Some of these changes also include healthier food choices and less animal cruelty. However, each change will come at a cost. Relax, we will not force any of this upon you. First, we will educate about the benefits of each and let you take a survey. If more than 50% of the people are against it, it will be dropped. If 50% or more are for it we will take it to another level, but nothing will be rushed.

Some of the changes we are looking at are:

switch to free ranged, organic eggs (not raised in cages)
switch to organic rice
switch to unbleached, recycled napkins

Stay tuned for more info later. Meanwhile feel free to watch some of these videos to learn more.

Meet your Meat (warning - this is not easy to watch. Plus they are asking everyone to be vegetarian; which is not our goal. Nevertheless, it shows the animal cruelty taking place on many factory farms. If you are sensitive I would recommend looking at the videos below instead).
Store wars - amusing 'Star Wars' animation about organic food.
The Meatrix - amusing 'Matrix' animation about animal cruelty. You can also see Meatrix 2 and 2.5

The video below is only part 1 of Meet Your Meat. click the above link to see cruelty to pigs, cows, etc. Again, only view it if you think you can watch it.

Google Power Meter.

2009-02-24T15:16:00.013+07:00

Google has a device that I think millions of people will use in the near future. You can have a sneak peak now. They have come up with a power meter that is used with your computer to tell you how much energy you are using in your house, when it is being used and what is doing it. You can actually see what is the most wasteful and costing you money. Check out their 1 minute video be clicking Google Power Meter.

Eco-mmercial contest # 2 - Plastic Bags!

2009-02-24T12:38:00.016+07:00

I'm not here to promote Central over other shopping centers since I like to work on projects with all of them, but I do have something cool to tell you. For a while now I have been trying to contact businesses to look into reducing plastic bag use around Thailand. Perhaps, even taking a European approach and charging for the bags. Central has responded and we met last week. Don't worry there are no current plans to charge you for a bag, but they have a plan to reduce bags by at least 25% in the next 2 years. The Green Panthers will work with them on some areas. For example, the first step is to have Eco-mmercial contest # 2. However, this time all the videos should focus on plastic bags. We know plastic bags are terrible for the environment, there are solutions, and your video should prepare customers to make a lifestyle change and not use plastic bags.

The point of the commercial is to convince people to use less plastic bags, and in particular to purchase one of the eco bags that Central sells for 60 baht. This bag can be used as a points card. The bag has a bar code and every time you use it you get points. How cool is that!

CONTEST DETAILS:

Video length must be 60 seconds or less. This will be strictly enforced and any videos longer than this time will not be eligible to win.
Video can be done in English and/or Thai.
At some point in the video it must have the Central logo and it must show the Central eco bag (I think any winning video would have this in it anyway)
The winning video will get a 5000 baht gift voucher and have their videos shown at Central Changwattana every hour.
All videos can be turned in to Mr. Dyke (PE office) or Ms. Tananone (activities office).
Deadline for submission is April 22nd (Earth Day), 2009.

If interested, please send an email to kerryd@isb.ac.th to let me know who you are.

This video from You tube and this website might get you started, but don't copy it. Remember to follow the guidelines above.

9th Annual Bangkok Ultimate Frisbee Tournament Goes 'Green'.

2009-02-24T12:04:00.007+07:00

On Feb 21-22 260 players came to Bangkok to play in the very popular Ultimate Frisbee tournament. The event is always fun and exciting and a great way to meet new friends. However, in past years the amount of trash it created was disgusting. This year it went green and the Green Panthers were there to make sure of it. Some of the changes were to not supply bottles of water, but have large containers and you can refill your own reusable bottle. It also had recycling bins to separate the waste, but most importantly we severely reduced the amount of disposable plates and cups. We usually go through about 3000 plus disposable plastic cups and about 1000+ plates. This time everyone paid the Green Panther students 100 baht as a deposit for the dishes and when returned they got 80 baht back. The system accomplished its goal and I would guess waste was reduced by about 95%. I would like to thank Natalie, Jayna, Cha, Katie, Ina, Howard, Alisa and Leon for volunteering your time over the weekend to make this work.

Bang Pu Eco Trip

2009-02-24T09:28:00.007+07:00

On Feb 13-14 ISB MS students went to Bang Pu in the province of Samut Prakan, just an hour south of Bangkok. Here we worked with WWF to help restore the bird sanctuary and plant a mangrove forest. The students did scientific research and learned a lot about this valuable ecosystem. The place is home to 100's of species of birds and for many it was their first time seeing a mudskipper! Click here to see all the photos.

At the end of the trip 5 eco all-star awards were given. All of the students were great, but this was for those who went above and beyond the call of duty. The winners were Raimy, Katie, Tay, Win, and a student that has been on every eco trip in the MS, Ton-Leow.

ISB HS students stand up for the environment

2009-02-19T01:43:00.004+07:00

High school students joined in the eco-fair as well at the BCCT. These students focused on waste reduction at ISB and highlighted things done in the past such as, reducing plastic bags from 300 to zero, switching to reusable dishes, using eco bags and reusable bottles.

This group is currently on 3 projects:

Reducing energy at school
Using reusable water bottles
Planting trees to offset flights taken by our student groups.

Keep up the good work!

ISB MS students speak out

2009-02-19T01:24:00.005+07:00

At the start of the school year several ISB students along with other international schools of Bangkok went to an event held by the British Chamber of Commerce Thailand. Here the MS Green Panthers spoke about the benefits (environmental, health, and animal rights) of organic food. 4 students presented to an audience of other students and business men and women. Afterwards all who attended could come to our booth to try our blind taste test comparing organic milk and apples to non-organic milk and apples. The organic apples won by a landslide and the milk was closer, but the organic milk still came out on top.

Local Recycling Center Visit

2009-02-19T01:01:00.006+07:00

I teach Environmental Stewardship 4 times a year and each class takes a trip to the local recycling center. They also have to take their own items to recycle. The kids get to keep the money they earn too. To stick with the 'green' side, we travel there by the neighborhood solar bus and we visit a village compost center too.

New Recycling Bins

2009-02-19T00:40:00.003+07:00

Recently we have been receiving a lot of batteries to recycle. Our small containers could not handle the load, so our school staff painted this very eye pleasing recycling container for us.

Keep bringing in those items to recycle.

We no longer take juice boxes, but we still take:

Newspapers
Batteries
bottles/can
Ink jet cartridges
cell phones & their batteries
aluminum tabs (for artificial limbs)

Eco-mmercial Contest with TRUE Vision

2009-02-02T17:27:00.014+07:00

For a few months now the Green Panthers have hosted an eco-mmercial contest. The idea was to have students make a short video about any environmental topic. There were 26 entries and the final winner was Jori T, a senior at ISB. Her video, "Would you leave your trash here?" was about making choices. Jori received 5000 baht from the Green Panthers and then Jori and I went to the TRUE studios to film a TV show about the contest and Green Panthers. I would like to thank TRUE Vision for allowing us to show the video and go on television. You can see some of the videos right here on this site, but to see more go to Youtube and type in isb green panthers.

Other videos include:

5 steps to make Bangkok Green

Reuse bags and bottles

Help the Planet

2nd grade eco all-star

Plastic bag s

Ice Melting

Waterbottles

A planet for living

Impact of bottles

It's ok to hug a tree

Trash