2.27.2008 - 01:00pm ET

(CSRwire) West Los Angeles, CA - February 27, 2008 - New West Charter Middle School announced today that it is offsetting all its carbon emissions with Carbonfund.org, one of the country's leading carbon offset organizations. This commitment establishes New West as an environmental leader in the public school community and demonstrates the proactive steps it is taking in the fight against global climate change.
New West"s students, parents, teachers and administrators are very concerned about global warming. In addition to offsetting, New West has established a "Green Team" to focus on environmental programs and education for the school. Accomplishments to date include implementing recycling programs, taking steps to increase energy efficiency, planting trees, and environmentally-focused field trips.

"New West Charter Middle School is committed to taking a leadership role in becoming a 'green school' and doing all we can to address the planet’s daunting environmental challenges," said Dr. Sharon Weir, New West's Principal. "Offsetting all of our carbon emissions through Carbonfund.org is an important step in this process."

"Children are the inheritors of today's environmental policies," said Eric Carlson, Executive Director of Carbonfund.org. "New West Charter Middle School is doing the right thing for its own students and for children everywhere. Their decision to offset is an excellent step, and we’re glad to have them as a partner."

About New West Charter Middle School www.NewWestCharter.org

The mission of New West Charter Middle School is to provide an academically rigorous, highly individualized education for 21st Century students in grades 6-8. New West helps create competent, independent, self-reliant students by creating a learning environment that promotes academic excellence and strong character development as the antecedents for success in college preparatory high school programs. Since New West's opening in 2003 it has quickly developed into one of California's preeminent public middle schools as evidenced by the school's most recent Academic Performance Index (API) score of 845.

About Carbonfund.org

Carbonfund.org is the country’s leading carbon reduction and offset organization, making it easy and affordable for individuals, businesses and organizations to reduce their climate impact. Carbon offsets enable individuals and businesses to reduce carbon dioxide emissions they are responsible for in their everyday lives by investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects where they are most cost effective. Carbonfund.org works with over 300 corporate and non-profit partners including Discovery, Volkswagen, Dell, Orbitz, Environmental Defense, and Lancôme.

New West "Green Team" contact information: (310) 943-5444 Brandi Turnbow bturnbow@newwestcharter.org Josh Stern jstern@newwestcharter.org David Rosenstein rsnstndvd@yahoo.com

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