Sponsored by American School & University, The Green Cleaning Network and the Healthy Schools Campaign.

Created in conjunction with the Green Cleaning Network and Healthy Schools Campaign, American School & University's Green Cleaning Award recognizes education institutions for their healthy and sustainable approaches to cleaning to protect health without harming the environment.

Interested in entering your school in the 2012 Green Cleaning Award competition? A Word version of the 2011 application can be found here The 2012 application will be out in the fall.

Click here to read more on 2011 eligibility, judging criteria and the awards process.

It’s hard to deny that just filling out an application for this green cleaning competition is a positive way to forge change in an institution’s cleaning program. The application can be a tool to recognize program deficiencies, a written reminder of the products that are being used and abused, and alternatively, a way to showcase to the administration and other decisionmakers at an institution the positive things the maintenance department is doing. This year’s entries—which included a number of schools that previously had been recognized in the competition, but continue to make positive changes—came from institutions all over the country. In this awards program, an expert jury of green-cleaning professionals (see Meet the Jury) chose 10 education institutions whose green cleaning programs went above and beyond just using green products to protect health without harming the environment. The jury went back and forth on a number of decisions based on the high caliber of the applications. The jury named one Grand Award winner, one Best New Program and three Honorable Mentions in the K-12/School Districts category; and one Grand Award winner and four Honorable Mentions in the Higher Education category.

Judging criteria were based on the comprehensiveness and quality of the program, and how well each education institution followed the following five steps, as outlined in the second edition of The Quick & Easy Guide to Green Cleaning in Schools:

• Use green-cleaning products.
• Use green equipment and supplies.
• Adopt green-cleaning procedures.
• Use green paper and plastic products.
• Share the responsibility.

The 10 winners showcased in the following articles show how much one education institution, district or campus can accomplish — and how it can improve in measurable ways.

2011 K-12/School Districts Winners

• Grand Award: Columbia Public School District, Columbia, Mo.
• Best New Program Award: Dixon Middle School, Provo, Utah
• Honorable Mentions:
  • Catoosa County Schools, Ringgold, Ga.
  • Lee's Summit R-7 Public School District, Lee's Summit, Mo.
  • Salt Lake City School District

2011 College/University Winners

• Grand Award: Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant
• Honorable Mentions:
  • University of Arizona Residence Life
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • University of Missouri—Kansas City
  • Western Washington University, Bellingham

The Green Cleaning Award for Schools & Universities is sponsored by American School & University; the Green Cleaning Network, a non-profit clearinghouse that shares information and educates the marketplace in order to accelerate the adoption of green cleaning; and the Healthy Schools Campaign, a non-profit that advocates for policies and model programs that enable students and staff members to learn and work in a healthful school environment.

2010 K-12/School Districts Winners

• Grand Award: East Meadow Union Free School District, Westbury, N.Y.
• Best New Program Award: Columbia Public Schools, Columbia, Mo.
• Honorable Mentions:
  • Sonoma Country Day School, Santa Rosa, Calif.
  • Green Chimeys School, Brewster, N.Y.
  • Newark Public Schools, Newark, N.J.
  • Salt Lake City School District, Salt Lake City, Utah

2010 College/University Winners

• Co-Grand Award: University of Georgia, Athens
• Co-Grand Award: University of Washington, Seattle
• Honorable Mentions:
  • Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Mich.
  • Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
  • University of Maryland, College Park
  • Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.

2009 School Districts Winners

• Grand Award: Blackhawk Intermediate School, Beaver Falls, Pa.
• Grand Award: Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Md.
• Honorable Mention: East Meadow Union Free School District, Westbury, N.Y.
• Best New Program: LaPorte Community School Corporation, LaPorte, Ind.

2009 Higher Education Winners

• Grand Award: Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash.
• Honorable Mention: University of Georgia, Athens
• Best New Program: Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.

2008 School Districts Winners

• Grand Award: Jonesboro Public Schools, Jonesboro, Ark.
• Honorable Mention: Oswego C.U.S.D. #308, Oswego, Ill.

2008 Colleges Winners

• Grand Award: Miami Dade College, North Campus, Miami
• Honorable Mention: Colorado College, Colorado Springs

2008 Universities Winners

• Grand Award: University of California—Santa Barbara
• Honorable Mention: Michigan State University, East Lansing
• Honorable Mention: University of Georgia, Athens
• Honorable Mention: Western Washington University, Bellingham, Wash.

Click here to read more detailed profiles of each 2008 winner from AS&U's Green Cleaning Award special section in the December 2008 issue.

2007 School Districts Winners

• Grand Award: Hernando County Schools, Brooksville, Fla.
• Honorable Mention: Mayfield City School District, Mayfield Heights, Ohio

2007 Colleges Winners

• Grand Award: Delta College, University Center, Mich.
• Honorable Mention: Union College, Schenectady, N.Y.

2007 Universities Winners

• Grand Award: University of Washington, Seattle
• Honorable Mention: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta

Click here to read more detailed profiles of each 2007 winner from AS&U's Green Cleaning Award special section in the December 2007 issue.

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