That’s the message students at East Tennessee State University’s University School hope they’ll be able to send via the Internet in their new Green Tube site.

The elementary, middle and high school on the ETSU campus is a Tennessee green school, and as such the students and faculty have created a green school Web page complete with tips, information, advice, surveys and, soon, videos on how to be green, said Debbie Goehring, University School fifth-grade teacher.

“In order to create an awareness for being green ... we thought videoing a Web site, you know, creates awareness using technology,” she said.

Kindergarten through grade five meets once each month to discuss the school’s green efforts. Thursday, students met to discuss ideas on implementing video for their Web site.

“What we’re basically trying to do with our exploratory group is give them an awareness,” Goehring said.

The school already has one video on their site, but Goehring and the students have formed other, more specific ideas, including, how and where to recycle plastic bottles, how to recycle paper and cardboard, the progress of their school’s green initiative and how to save energy.

Part of the role of the Green Tube project is to give students good questioning skills as they interview ETSU officials who know how to be green.

“We’ve learned a lot about reducing, reusing and recycling from this group and how to report on different stuff,” said University School fifth-grader Elizabeth Hazlewood.

Fifth-grader Logan Metcalf explained that even taking your lunch to school can be a green experience, which is another one of the Green Tube video ideas.

“You would want to bring ... a plastic bag and you can take it home and re-wash it and use it again. And you have a plastic bottle that’s hard plastic. And you can bring drinks in it and take it home and just wash it out, the same thing. Plastic containers to put like just snacks in ... and you can take it home, rewash it, reuse it.”

Sarah Belcher, also in Goehring’s fifth-grade class, said she thinks it is important to learn how to care for the environment.

“Well, like they said earlier, I’ve learned a lot about reducing, reusing and recycling. We’ve learned about like the lunches and stuff and how to recycle and stuff.”

University School plans to use its Green Tube to espouse green thinking at the school, but eventually Goehring plans to expand out into the broader community with the site.

“Eventually what I’d like to do is a community service project,” she said.

Before that can be accomplished, scripts must be written, video ideas must be formulated, sets must be determined and students must learn more about the environment and how to care for it and why.

To help in those goals, Ashley Tipton, a sophomore at University School, was teaching the younger students what it means to have a green school.

“This is a good awareness project for these little kids, because whenever they grow up they’re going to become more aware of it and they’re going to be doing these things throughout their elementary, middle and high school careers,” she said. “And I’m pretty sure they’re going to take this home and help out with their family at home.”