Join our Grades of Green family on January 21st as we root on one of our local sponsors, the Los Angeles Kings! Enjoy an afternoon hockey game with friends and family, knowing that a portion of your purchase will help fund Grades of Green programs in local schools!

When the LA Kings host the St. Louis Blues on January 21st, Grades of Green will receive a $7-10 donation for each ticket purchased using this link. With several affordable ticket options at all different sections of the stadium, bring out the whole family for an afternoon of excitement.

Plus, with each ticket purchased through the Grades of Green link, fans will get a Behind-the-Scenes tour of the STAPLES CENTER between periods. An LA Kings Foundation Team Member will take supporters through an exclusive operations tour, highlighting the sustainability initiatives in place at one of the world’s most famous stadiums, the STAPLES Center.

Our Grades of Green Staff will be in Section 305, please be sure to stop by and say hello! And if you’d like, please purchase your tickets in this section to sit with our group.

If you are unable to join us for the LA Kings outing, but would still like to make a donation, click here to join our Investor Program or make a one-time donation.

Grades of Green partners with One More Generation!


One More Generation is a non-profit focused on animal conservation and environmental stewardship founded by two young and talented students, Carter and Olivia. With their recently launched One Less Straw pledge, the non-profit tackles the issue of straw usage. The pledge brings awareness to the severe damage that these innocuous utensils unleash into our oceans. In the United States of America alone, consumers use 500,000,000 straws daily, often going un-recycled and thrown into landfills. Like most plastics, straws are not easily biodegradable, but they also have the added danger of harming animals. Aquatic animals are especially susceptible to straws as they can suffocate on plastics while feeding. Make it part of your New Year’s resolutions to remove straws from your daily life!


Furthermore, SimplyStraws is partnering with One More Generation and offering coupons for a free, reusable glass straw to those who pledge. Sturdy, reusable, and easy to clean glass straws are an excellent alternative to help participants replace their harmful plastic straw habits.


Individuals, businesses, and schools can commit to using less straws and sign up for the One Less Straw campaign here.


Let’s start off 2018 right and reduce our straw usage!

Saint Anthony school in Long Beach, California kicked off their Grades of Green program with a huge splash thanks to the Kings Care Foundation and Blue Shield of California! The school is competing in the 2017-2018 Trash Free Lunch Challenge, and began by inviting Grades of Green to host a kick-off assembly to educate students about the program. Students were taught how to reduce, reuse, recycle, pack trash free lunches, and to use their new lunchtime sorting station. After the assembly, students who sorted their waste correctly earned a t-shirt. After lunch, students participated in a workshop to learn about the Kings Care Foundation G.O.A.L.S. program.  Students were split into four groups, and rotated to four interactive stations. They were able to play hockey with Kings player Kyle Clifford, practice recycling habits with a sorting game, spin the Grades of Green Jeopardy wheel to earn a reusable water bottle, and explore the brand new G.O.A.L.S. website features. Grades of Green is proud to partner with the Kings Care  Foundation on the Green Solutions platform, and was thrilled to bring the program to Saint Anthony!

To check out photos from the event, click here. To check out the press, click here, and click here! To read the Kings story about this awesome day, click here.

Did you know that the average American uses 80 to 100 gallons of water a day, more than any other country on Earth? Yet communities all across the country lack access to a clean, reliable water resource, global water infrastructure is outdated, and the cost of water is rising. By participating in the Gallon Challenge, you will experience firsthand what it’s like to live without access to unlimited clean water by living off of just 1 gallon of water for 24 hours. Gallon Challenge USA is a community project designed to educate and inspire people of all ages to take action to raise awareness about the domestic water crisis. The challenge will bring personal awareness to your water habits to empower you to conserve water and stand up for environmental sustainability in your community.

Challenge: Saturday, June 10 through Saturday, June 17: Pick any day out of the week to take the challenge!

Celebration of Participation: July 13 @ South Bay Cares monthly meeting in Hermosa Beach, California. Participants are invited to the South Bay Cares monthly meeting to share their experiences of the challenge. A flyer will be distributed with information on various water conservation home products.

 

Sign up for the Gallon Challenge here

For more information or if you are interested in partnership, promotion, or sponsorship, please contact Alissa Stevens at alissadstevens@gmail.com or 310-200-3293

What’s greener than no idle zones in schools? No idle zones in car dealerships! In celebration of Earth Month, LAcarGUY is setting a new auto industry standard by introducing the very first No Idle Service Center in all 11 of their South Bay dealerships. As one of Grades of Green’s longtime supporters, LAcarGUY has helped dozens of schools take on the No Idle Zone activity to educate parents and students on why it’s important to reduce carbon emissions and unnecessary idling. As green leaders of the auto industry, LAcarGUY is showing just why they are on the forefront of environmental sustainability. Way to go LAcarGUY! Interested in implementing a no idle zone in your school? Check out Grades of Green’s No Idle Zone Activity for a step-by-step guide on how to roll out a successful program and don’t forget to watch our recent webinar to learn how one small and simple change can make a positive impact on the environment.

Grades of Green is thrilled to receive a generous donation from our friends at LAcarGuy’s Subaru Pacific dealership of $22,951! Subaru Pacific selected Grades of Green as one of the local charities they would support in the 2016 Share The Love campaign. Each time a customer purchased a new Subaru from the dealership, they were given the opportunity to give $250 to one of Subaru’s selected charities. Grades of Green has been honored to be one of two local charities chosen for the past few years. Subaru has been partnering with Grades of Green since 2013. Through the Share the Love campaign, Subaru customers have donated a total of approximately $60,000, which helped inspire and educate over 20,000 to care for the environment. Grades of Green is thrilled to partner with LAcarGuy and Subaru Pacific, and we thank them for their continued support!

Our friends at Little Voices Are Loud have created a letter writing toolkit for kids to show their support for the issues that they care about. Check out their kid’s guide to writing a letter to a representative here, which includes a sample letter and the addresses of the political representatives in each state. Kids, get out your envelopes and stamps and make your voice heard about the environment and any other issues that you are passionate about!

Grades of Green and the Kings Care Foundation are teaming up this year to help four Los Angeles schools green their campus. From reducing lunchtime waste to composting, Grades of Green and the Kings are helping train the next generation of environmental stewards! St. Athanasius School and Hoover Middle School in Long Beach recently kicked off their Trash Free Lunches program in style with the help of the L.A. Kings Chariot Crew and Kings mascot Bailey, while Highland Elementary in Inglewood and Foshay Learning Center will be launching their programs later this month. Major thanks to the Kings Care Foundation for all of their support. Go Kings! Go Green!

Grades of Green kicked off Earth Month with our friends at the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County at their 10th annual Earth Day Festival! On Saturday, April 9th, community members were invited to enjoy a fun filled afternoon at the festival, which included eco-friendly exhibitors, a drought tolerant garden, music, performances, magic shows, and tours of the Sanitation Districts’ San Jose Creek Water reclamation plant as well as the Puente Hills Materials Recovery Facility. The Grades of Green booth featured our natural resources matching game, as well as information on how to join the Trash Free Lunch Challenge and Youth Corps Eco-Leadership program. Looking for ways to celebrate earth month? Check out our April Events Calendar and come visit us at an earth month festival in your area!

After careful selection, Grades of Green is proud to announce the top 6 finalist schools who competed in this year’s Trash Free Lunch Challenge.

Elementary School category (in no particular order): Jackson STEM in Pasadena, Collegewood in Walnut, and Will Rogers Learning Community in Santa Monica.

Middle/High School category (in no particular order): Will Rogers in Long Beach, Richardson in Torrance, and La Merced in Montebello.

Congratulations finalists!

Each school that participated in the Trash Free Lunch Challenge and submitted a final application was a rock star in their own way, and in reading the applications, Grades of Green is pleased to give the following recognition:

Bud Carson Middle School: Green Leaders of Tomorrow Award

Furgeson Elementary School: Most Inspirational Program Award

Holy Innocents K-8: Best Community Involvement Award

Jefferson Elementary School: Greenest Cafeteria Award

Phelan Elementary School: Best Green Team Award

Portola Hills Elementary School: Best Sorting Station Award

Vejar Elementary School: Best Student Led Education Award

Willard IB Elementary School: Best Composting Program Award

William Green Elementary School: Best Education Video Award

Congratulations to these schools!

This program would not be possible without the support of our amazing sponsors. We thank the following:  Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, City of Santa Monica, Lush Cosmetics, Northrop Gruman, Chevron, Ukonserve, County of LA, Go Green Lunch Boxes, Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, Legend Socks, Terracycle, Bubi Bottles, Eco Lunchbox, and Deckopedia.  The Challenge would not be possible and so successful without their support and contributions!

From the bottom of our hearts at Grades of Green, we would like to thank all of the schools who participated this year. You are all winners in our eyes as you are now environmental leaders in your communities and an inspiration to other schools around you. Keep up the amazing work; we look forward to seeing what you accomplish in the future!

Do you know of a school that would be interested in participating in the 2016-2017 Trash Free Lunch Challenge? Grades of Green is looking for elementary and middle schools in the greater LA area who are motivated to reduce their lunchtime waste. For more information, please email Allie Bussjaeger, Programs and Outreach Manager at info@gradesofgreen.org