Today I was given the opportunity to give you an opportunity to offset your carbon footprint this holiday season by donating to the S.A.S. Roots and Shoots Million Tree Project. I am sure many of you have read about our success with planting trees in Inner Mongolia in either the Eagle or other Shanghai publications. The article here gives praise to S.A.S. from the amazing Jane Goodall herself thanking students and staff at our school for the time and effort they have given to the Million Tree Project.
Tomorrow I will be sending home an envelope that you are able to fill with money if you so desire. The money will then be returned to me and I will submit all cash to our Roots and Shoots Fund and you will know exactly how many trees will be planted by our SAS students in Inner Mongolia next April. More information is provided on the envelope coming home, including the link to this website, where you can find out exactly how much carbon your winter flights may be generating.

To check how easy or difficult the task would be for you all, first I went to this site to find out how many kilometres/miles it was from Shanghai to Melbourne return… It was 8003 kms/4973 miles each way. Then I put the information into the original site that is listed on the envelope you will receive, and then I sat back going “ouch!” I had to multiply my 8,000 km by two for the return trip, then I had to multiply that by 4 as there are 4 of us flying.
Here are the results… Oooh La La…. I travel so much, this is just the tip of the iceberg!

I may as well round up to 50 trees… so that is 1250 rmb or $187 US Dollars to offset our families travel… It was starting to sound a little better when I put it like that but money is tight this time of year so I was still panicking a little. However, I know that however much money I put in, I will feel a little better about the damage I am doing to the Earth with all the flying our family does. If you feel the same way, it would be great if you could also try and offset your trip this Winter and send some money back with your child. In our classroom, we often discuss being globally minded, this would be a great way to set a positive example for our children.

Here is a video for you to see exactly where your money is being spent.

http://portal.saschina.org/video/flv_player/Main.swf

P.S. The math test has been delayed until Monday as we have had several absences this week. The kids are all feeling pretty tired and need to get some rest over the weekend, the room is starting to sound like an orchestra with the various coughs and sneezes going on. It is that time of year I’m afraid and I know we don’t want our germs going on vacation with us, so take it easy folks and look after each other.