Greensburg Trip 2011 by: Shelley Rucker, Chantel Perez, Erica Brade

Tornado shelter outside of the Eco-Silo home made from a propane tank.  It can hold about 10 middle school students.	All the students that went to Greensburg: Front row- Jon Kline, Sam Baldwin, Brooke Nelson, Alexis Knouse, Hannah Leamer, and AJ Mosier. Middle Row- Ashley Bosley, Carrie Silvers, Mary Bligh, Emma Griffin, Chantel Perez, Erica Brade, Lindy Saunders, Shelley Rucker, Hannah Williams, Hannah Caselman, and Mrs. Jones. Back Row- Zach Quinn, Nick Meyers, Austin Sharp, Kaylee Thieme, Hallee Jones, Joanna Hathcock, Brandon Foley, Ryan Foley, and Kayla Fox. Not pictured-Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin.	Toilet in Eco-Silo home, it has two flush options. One only uses half a tank of water(.8 gallons) and the other uses a full tank (1.6 gallons). You can probably guess why. The unusual feature is that after you wash your hands, that water fills the tank of the toilet for the next flush.

In May 2007 the small town of Greensburg, Kansas was completely wiped out by an EF5 tornado. It was over1.7 miles across and had wind speeds over 205 miles per hour. This tornado destroyed about 95% of Greensburg, Kansas and took the lives of thirteen. In the weeks after the devastation, the townspeople came together and made a commitment to rebuild green and sustainably. Twenty five students from CMS recently went to Greensburg on a grant-funded school field trip to learn about aspects of green design.  The eight-hour bus ride took the students to a three day and two night immersion of the green experience March 31-April 2.

Students toured the Eco Silo home, the wind farm, the art museum, BTI John Deere dealership, the city hall, the school, the Big Well, and a recycled park that was donated by CBS news. They learned all about green careers and how to use safe, renewable energy to power everyday things.  Eleven college-aged AmeriCorp volunteers from around the country taught CMS students about the use of rain barrels to collect and store runoff to be used for irrigation and composting to enrich soil and reduce what goes to a landfill.  The AmeriCorp volunteers facilitated our students in the building of four rain barrels and compost bins which will be donated to local Greensburg businesses and citizens.  

Most of the buildings in Greensburg have some kind of LEED certification. LEED is a way to classify “green” buildings and stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Buildings are scored in six areas: energy, water, indoor environmental quality, materials use, site selection and innovation in design. Total points earned determine the level of the building’s LEED rating: bronze, silver, gold, or platinum.  The city of Greensburg made a commitment to rebuild all public buildings to the highest standard, platinum. Most buildings with LEED certification include such features as LED lighting, no VOC paints, banks of skylights and windows for natural light, geothermal heating, recycled materials and native plants in the landscape.

The students are attaching screen over the top of a repurposed plastic barrel using zip ties.  The screen will keep mosquitoes from laying eggs in the water.  A spigot was attached at the bottom to attach a hose for irrigation of a garden.	These chains are connected to the gutters that lead off the school roof. They serve to direct and slow the flow of water to the ground to allow time for it to soak in instead of flowing to the city sewer system. Many aging sewer systems are ill equipped to handle all the runoff from buildings and streets in a downpour.