EP: As an Ecopreneurist, what are the challenges or benefits of your target market?
KVH: The challenge, as perhaps with any project, is getting enough people to say “yes” before we can come in and be hired to do an audit, give a presentation, or teach.
For public schools in particular, money is not always easy to come by. Budgets are drawn up early in the year, so finding money mid-way through the year to finance a sustainability initiative is difficult. Therefore, it requires planning, patience and sometimes fundraising on behalf of the schools before before they hire us.
Furthermore school green committees, comprised of parents and teachers, are popping up all over the place. The committees are great if they are open to learning how to implement sustainability in new ways. However in some cases the committees are formed to make change from the inside only without bringing in a consultant or outside research.
EP: What does an “Obama generation” of kids mean to you? How does it impact the purpose of Greenfox schools?
KVH: I love this term. The children who are raised in this generation are definitely more worldly, tech-savvy, and communications-savvy. They know what global warming is. They are ready to tell you all about the wonders of the presidential election. They love clothes. They are on Facebook. They want to save the world, and they want to have 500 friends while doing it.
In my mind, the risks of this generation are that children may become so wrapped up in technology and unauthentic forms of communication, such as texting, e-mailing, and IM’g, that genuine people skills will diminish.
It is ironic, but there is the risk that as we become more connected, we become less connected in the ways that truly matter. For example, while our blackberry allows us to stay connected to e-mail, news, and the internet 24/7, if we have it on during family-time or out to coffee with a friend then we do not allow ourselves to connect whole-heartedly to that person. We do not allow ourselves to be in the moment 100% because a part of us is ready to break that connection at any moment to read a text-message. If we are aware of that reality, though, I think we can find a healthy balance.
With this in mind, it is my goal with Greenfox to help children develop interpersonal skills through sensory orientation, and to put that in the context of sustainability.
I think it’s important for kids to realize that “environment” is not just this word you put in some box or isolated category. “Environment” is part of the greater term “sustainability,” which teaches children that the environment is connected to our homes, to our restaurants, to our banks, to our neighboring countries, and to each other as individual people.
EP: What are Greenfox’s plans for 2009? For the ‘Obama generation’ of kids beyond 2009 ?
KVH: We plan to continue consulting at schools, performing environmental audits based on the Greenfox5, giving workshops, teaching curriculum to K-12 schools, and debuting our magazine, Greenfox Kids! in April. Growth is important to us, but we believe in starting small and doing something well before doing more.
More information about Greenfox Schools can be found at www.greenfoxschools.com
Image credit: Greenfox Schools
[...] Read an interview with Kristen von Hoffmann as she talks about Greenfox Schools for Ecopreneurist in Reenita Malhotra’s article, “Greenfox Schools: Greening the Obama Generation.” [...]