Press release from Asheville High School:
Asheville High School students took the lead over 765 other teams worldwide to earn first place in the inaugural Drawdown EcoChallenge, a global competition rooted in identifying and practicing solutions to draw down atmospheric greenhouse gases and eventually reverse global warming. The school’s team consisted of 512 students, staff, and community members. Participants researched, communicated, and practiced up to 80 solutions that span seven major sectors and ultimately draw down our climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions.
There were 30,240 minutes in the 21 day competition. The Asheville High School team spent a total of 34,132 minutes learning about the solutions to reverse global warming.
Over the 21-day competition, the team:
- traveled 2,068 miles by carpool.
- contacted 782 public officials.
- kept 7,120 pounds of climate-changing carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere.
- traveled up to 218 miles by bicycle.
- saved 1,589 gallons of water.
- ate 1,568 vegan or vegetarian meals.
The competition ended on April 25, and in the last two days, the team leapfrogged for first place with the multinational Taiwan Sugar Corporation. Students banded together on the final day to amass an impressive 50,000+ points in one day. This secured the school’s lead with 31,163 points over the corporation.
Asheville High School students’ efforts and accomplishment show that teenagers, when given solutions to complex global problems, are the change-makers of the present and future and are ready to affect positive change in their world.
For more information, contact Sarah Duffer at sarah.duffer@acsgmail.net or 828-350-2613.
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