School transportation departments are fighting the good fight to conserve energy and reduce their carbon footprints not just on Earth Day but throughout the year.

With more than 40 years under its belt, Earth Day has become known as time to reflect and highlight the efforts made by many worldwide to reduce the effects of pollution on our environment. For many districts, it is the actions that they take during the rest of the year that show their dedication to the movement. Sometimes it is as simple as using a little less water or changing out light bulbs. School Transportation News recently asked hundreds of school districts nationwide how they strive for a greener operations.

At Virginia Beach City Public Schools, the district uses light-colored concrete paving, white roofs and green roofs to reduce the heat island effect, collects rainwater from 70,000 square feet of roof area resulting in zero municipal center consumption for all non-potable uses, and uses high efficiency/output lighting fixtures which results in an energy savings of 60 percent.

According to Transportation Director David Pace, his department employs the use of “efficient routing of school buses to reduce the deadhead miles and the miles per route.” He also works to promote school buses as the safest transportation for all students to reduce number of students driving automobiles.

Skip Veljkov, transportation director for Carrollton City Schools in western Georgia, makes sure his staff limits water use when washing the buses, keeps Styrofoam out of the break room, and makes sure to only use "green" rated chemical products.

“[We] limit all idle time to less than five minutes [and] cut all power at loading zones,” said Veljkov, who also runs biodiesel on 35 of his school buses.

At Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Ky., the transportation department instills an environmentally-conscious attitude in employees from day one.

“Our driver training department outlines to new drivers, as well as season drivers during our updates, that reducing emissions is part of our job responsibility. This is part of our training,” said James Engler, the assistant director of the vehicle maintenance department.

Jefferson County Public Schools will also soon have the largest hybrid school bus fleet in the country, as it is in the process of purchasing 16 new Thomas hybrids and 16 IC Bus hybrids.

Editor's note: Look for more on how districts celebrated Earth Day in our “Green” issue this July.