IC Bus is a company “moving children from home to school and back again” and now, there are doing it in a green way. In addition to transporting kids in their hybrid bus, the company has sponsored a contest to identify America’s greenest school.

After four months of receiving more than 700 essay submissions from students, parents and teachers from kindergarten through high school, IC Bus poured through results and chose the top 10. The 10 were listed on the web site, and then America voted for the greenest school.

Submissions discussed in 500 words (slightly less than this article) how and why their school is dedicated to being green, teaching about the environment and what actions the school takes to green their transportation methods.

Fremont, California’s Irvington High School took home the win and a new hybrid bus courtesy of IC Bus. The bus reduces green house gas and air pollutant emissions, promotes sustainable energy, ingenuity, fuel efficiency, science, the environment, and the list goes on and on. Irvington students, Alexander Chin and Jasper Lin, worked on the school’s essay, and the application noted how the school reduced its energy requirements by 33 percent, incorporated a food scrap program at the cafeteria, and many other green activities.

It’s not surprising that a California school "schooled" others and took home the sustainability award. A school that sits between two major environmental contributors, San Francisco, a leader in environmental regulation and oversight, and Silicon Valley, an engineer of energy efficiency and new technologies for a fossil-free future, has to have some advantages. Other states with schools in the top 10 including Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, and Florida are also leaders in renewable energy and green building. While competition may not always be encouraged in school, competing for a greener school is always encouraged.

Alexander and Jasper are part of a new generation that is booming with environmental responsibility. They are coming up in an age where the entire world has to change business as usual and think long term, not only about the financial state of the company, but also about whether the company is achieving business practices that provide for a sustainable future.

It is invigorating to see students understand environmental responsibility. A nation of youth passionate about sustainability will sustain this country through challenges like a recession. Already committed to environmental causes, this generation can bring new levels of energy to water efficiency and to land use that works with nature, not against it.