Grades of Green is proud to congratulate the exceptional students who participated in the 2016-2017 Youth Corps Eco-Leadership program! Over the weekend the students and their families gathered for a celebration event to conclude the year. The celebration took place at TreePeople’s beautiful space, and delivered a fun filled afternoon including a yummy lunch provided by Fresh Brothers and Grow, a photo booth, games, and presentations from each Youth Corps Eco-Leader about the Grades of Green Activity they implemented in their school community over the past year. In the past nine months, Youth Corps leaders have accomplished some amazing environmental feats including installing drought tolerant gardens at their schools, rolling out No Idle Zone programs, teaching Eco-Lessons in their classrooms, launching Grades of Green Teams, and more.

Each student was presented with a certificate of recognition from Grades of Green, as well as a certificate from their respective Los Angeles County District office. In addition, the Grades of Green Youth Corps Eco-Leadership program was honored to be presented with a certificate of congressional recognition from Ted Lieu’s office of California’s 33rd district. To check out photos from the celebration, click here!

This year’s Youth Corps Eco-Leaders are leading the way in environmental stewardship, and we could not be more proud! Thank you to the incredible sponsors who help us make this program possible: Arconic Foundation, City of Santa Monica, Murad Family Foundation, Earth Friendly Products, County of Los Angeles 3rd district, Metropolitan Water District, Beach Cities Health District, the Vanderbilt Family Foundation, and Southern California Edison.

Are you a 4th-12th grade student located in the greater Los Angeles area who is interested in applying for the 2016-2017 Youth Corps Eco-Leadership program? Applications are open now! Click here to apply!

We are thrilled to publish and share the Youth Corps Eco-Leadership Program Final Report 2015-2016. Our team had the pleasure of mentoring 60 outstanding 2nd-12th grade students who came from schools all over the greater Los Angeles area. Each student implemented a Grades of Green Activity of their choice, and the results are outstanding! Thank you to our generous sponsors for your support, including the Murad Family Foundation, Earth Friendly Products, Alcoa Foundation, City of Santa Monica, and Southern California Edison. Congratulations to the amazing students who participated in the Youth Corps this year, we are so impressed with your passion for inspiring and empowering your communities to care for the environment!

INSPIRED? We hope so! Apply for the 2016-2017 Youth Corps Eco-Leadership here and watch the 2015-2016 Youth Corps Presentations here!

We are thrilled to publish and share the Grades of Green Trash Free Lunch Challenge – Final Report 2015-2016. After months of working hard to reduce lunchtime waste, the 2015-2016 Trash Free Lunch Challenge has educated and inspired over 14,500 students on how to reduce, reuse, recycle and rot (compost); saved schools over $13,000 by reducing trash bag liners used and waste hauler fees; and empowered participating schools to divert over 53,000 bags of trash, or 531 tons from landfills.  Thank you to our generous sponsors for your support, including the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, LUSH, Northrop Grumman, Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Kanabe, UKonserve, Johnson Ohana Foundation, Chevron, City of Santa Monica and Go Green Lunchboxes. Congratulations to the amazing schools who participated in the Challenge this year, we are so impressed with your programs and results! Interested in registering your school to compete in the 2016-2017 Trash Free Lunch Challenge? Registration is now open! Click here for more information and to join today!