Contamination at Deaf School

Warning signs have been put into place around a school for the deaf and "large areas of the campus have been fenced off" according to the Press Enterprise. About 2,900 tons of soil at The California School for the Deaf at Riverside is contaminated. It contains "unsafe levels of lead, arsenic and two kinds of pesticides that have been banned for decades because of their toxicity." Find out the whopping price tag for this project here.

Video: Oranutan asks deaf girl for help in sign language

A group of environmental activists have put put a video showing a deaf girl using sign language with an orangutan. In the Rainforest Action Network video, 12-year-old Lena appears to be talking with Strawberry, Indonesian orangutan about the environment. The orangutan seems to warn her about how oil palm plantations are hurting the environment by tell her, "Your food is destroying my home." The Rainforest Action Network is going after several snack food companies that use palm oil and has created a photo petition here. A recent Reuters report suggested that oil palm can be made more biodiversity friendly according to experts. You can read that article here. Below you can see the Rainforest video for yourself.

School Wins Green Competition

The Texas School for the Deaf has won the Global Green USA Green School Makeover Competition. That means the Austin school gets $130,000 toward a green makeover. Nominated by Austin's Francisco's Salon, the school beat out more than 220 other entries from both public and private schools. The renovation plans include: 

Retrofitting light fixtures to allow for energy efficient bulbs and motion-activated lights 

Hands-free faucets 

Collecting rainwater in barrels to be used for watering the school grounds 

Reusable water bottles and a tap filtration system Hands-free hand dryers 

Adding recycling bins to the campus 

 An education program

Gally's Green Celebration

Gallaudet went carbon-neutral Thursday in honor of Earth Day. The campus relied on natural gas for as much of the day's energy needs as possible and carbon offsets were bought for the remainder of the energy. Three-year-old Green Gallaudet has led the enviromental effort that has moved the school from about 35,000 in carbon savings during 2008 up to 38,600 in 2009. Gallaudet has had a recycling program in place for years and it has switched recently to using viturally all organic products for grounds maintenance. University officials hope to soon sign on to the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment.