In RHS’ 2008-2009 school year, electrical consumption was 3,075,287 kilowatt per hour. This is a grade D according to the MCPS recycling scoring scale. However, this year, recycling at RHS has dramatically improved. With hard work, the staff and students of RHS worked their way to the rewarding grade of an A.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Association, educational buildings such as elementary, middle, high schools and colleges place third in the top five energy consuming building categories across the nation. The energy used includes heating, lighting, air conditioning, water heating and electricity. This energy is spent with the use of computers, Promethean Boards and lights. High schools need a lot of energy in order to keep their activities and resources available to students.

MCPS has a program called School Energy and Recycling Team (SERT) to help promote efficient and responsible energy usage. Students, teachers, parents and building managers throughout Montgomery County are members. SERT collects and analyzes energy and recycling data of every Montgomery County public school. Using this data, they are able to award certificates to schools and create activities to help energy and water conservation.

Chemistry teacher Mark Agnew sponsors the Green Club at RHS. The Green Club is a student-created environmental club that promote the protection of the environment. They advertise recycling and conservation by making posters and distributing them around the school. “I think most people genuinely want to take care of the environment but they just don’t think about it,” said Agnew.

Distributing posters around the school is not the only way the Green Club promotes recycling and conservation. They also make sure there is the right amount of recycling bins in every classroom and that bins are labeled correctly so students will recycle things in the right bin. Labeling and advertising are essential to get the Green Club’s messages out.

RHS students do not notice the effects of the recycling and conservation improvement but it is recognized in MCPS. Improvements in schools are often rewarded and recognized by SERT. The total RHS energy consumption of the fall 2009-2010 school year is currently 683,179 and the Green Club is working on minimizing the total of energy consumption for this year. By doing so, RHS will have the credentials needed to maintain their A grade on the MCPS recycling score.

“I think it is important to conserve the environment. Not only humans live on Earth; other things depend on the environment more than us,” said sophomore Robert Lee, member of Green Club. RHS wants to keep on working on the Go Green movement to keep our environment safe for the future.