Grades of Green Eco-Leader Dalia from Los Angeles, CA was featured by the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), a blog that promotes excellence in environmental education. Click here to read how about Dalia’s opinions on improving water conservation and click here to view her project video on different water conservation strategies.



Guest Blog: A Middle Schooler’s Take on Changemaking: Drops in the Bucket

Interested in starting an environmental movement in your community like Dalia? Sign up for our 2019 Water Campaign wait list to receive more information on how to get involved and follow us at @gradesofgreen.

Since 2011, Grades of Green has worked with schools across southern California to divert 1,740 tons of waste from landfills by setting up waste sorting stations, composting, and more through the Trash Free Lunch Challenge program! This spring, Grades of Green is expanding our waste reduction program to empower 200 student teams across the globe to tackle regional waste issues.




Starting in January, Grades of Green is launching our four-month Waste Campaign for 6th-12th grade students to engage eco-heroes across the globe to take action to reduce waste and develop sustainable, student-led solutions to waste issues relevant to their region. A Waste Campaign Team (a group of students, educators and community leaders) researches local waste issues, develops a solution to a water issue, and shares that idea with the community. Thanks to our sponsors, this program is free to all students, and Grades of Green will even provide personalized virtual mentorship, student leadership training, webinars featuring waste experts, waste conservation resources, and the opportunity to connect with other participating teams across the globe. Winning Campaign Teams, announced in April, will also receive up to $1,000 in Eco-Grant prizes to fund their innovative solutions. Check out this video to learn more!

The Waste Campaign is open to 200 teams of students across the globe. Campaign teams can come from schools, after-school programs, sports teams, community teams, and more! Each team needs at least 5 student members and one adult lead to supervise.




Do you know three students that are up for the challenge? Nominate them now! To join the Waste Campaign, have an adult lead complete this Google Form by January 11th!




REGISTER FOR THE SPRING WASTE CAMPAIGN HERE!

Halloween has long been known as one of the least environmentally-friendly holidays. Between countless candy wrappers, costumes made of harmful plastics, and decorations which burn a lot of energy; it can be hard to navigate a holiday which means so much to so many. Luckily, here’s Grades of Green’s Guide to an Environmentally-Friendly Hallo-green!

 

 

  1. Conscientious Costumes

Costumes sold at Halloween super-stores are often made of materials like PVC which contain phthalate. These materials may be flame-retardant but they end up in a landfill leaking toxic chemicals into the environment. In fact, extended exposure to these chemicals could have adverse health effects.

 

Host a costume swap! Just like with candy, everyone likes a little variety in their costumes! But rather than shell out cash for a new costume every year, host a costume swap with your friends and mix it up! If you’re unable to find friends in your size, join Grades of Green’s virtual costume closet!

 

Design your own costume using supplies you already have at home! Another way to save some green while going green, create your own hallo-green masterpiece from things around the house. Grades of Green’s Litter Monster is not only a great costume, but is a great way to raise awareness for waste reduction efforts.

 

You can also turn an old bridesmaid’s dress you’ll never wear into an undead party-goer with some homemade fake blood. Take an old yoga mat and turn it into a slice of pizza or a British telephone booth.

 

  1. Spooky Sustainable Decorations

Not only are the costumes and decorations comprised of materials which are non-combustible, the plastic packaging they come in only compounds their harmful impact. Rather than spend money on decorations which will likely be thrown out in November, recycle egg cartons into bats or make skeletons our of recycled milk jugs. Old stockings with tears can be made into spider webs, add a construction paper spider and your hallo-green party will be the talk of the town. The opportunities are endless and it can make for a creative DIY project for the whole family.

 

  1. Green Your Treats

While we would love to reduce waste, handing out candy which is not individually wrapped may not go over well with concerned parents. Instead, you can hand out organic goodies with a significantly smaller environmental footprint, like these organic lollipops.

 

  1. Potluck Party

Host a pot-luck hallo-green party and ask your friends to bring their contributions in re-usable containers. Halloween parties can be a huge perpetrator of environmental efforts due to single-use plastics. Hosting a potluck party using silverware instead of single use cutlery will significantly reduce the holiday’s environmental impact.

 

  1. Trick-or-Treat

Avoid hard plastic jack-o-lanterns that will never breakdown in a landfill. Instead using tote bags, reusable shopping bags, or a pillow case to collect goodies is an easy way to be environmentally-friendly.

 

Instead of driving to your trick-or-treat destination, walking will help reduce the number of dangerous pollutants we expel into the atmosphere. Not to mention that it will help burn off the countless calories consumed later that night!

 

  1. LED the Way!

Use solar panel lights to illuminate the path toward your haunted mansion.

 

Sweep your sidewalk when clearing a path for trick-or-treaters; you’ll be saving gallons of water by not using a hose.

 

  1. Pumped for Pumpkin!

Buy organic and shop local! You’ll protect water and reduce carbon emissions by picking up your pumpkin from your local farm. Click Here to locate your local family farm.

 

Save the seeds and pulp from your pumpkin to make delicious snacks and baked goods. By reusing or composting our unwanted pumpkin parts, we can reduce dangerous greenhouse gases. Check out our favorite recipes for Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, Pumpkin Pie, and Pumpkin Soup.

 

Our Water Campaign Student Teams will tell you that eating a meat-less pumpkin based meal would be protecting water. By reusing the pumpkin seeds and pulp we reduce waste. For more fun ways to reuse, recycle and reduce waste, register for our Waste Campaign now!

 

 

 

 

For more DIY projects, green activities, and other ways to remain environmentally-friendly, visit www.GradesofGreen.org. Send your green solutions or pictures of your Hallo-green Holiday to @gradesofgreen or send us a message on Facebook!

Spring 2017 Outreach Events Calendar:

SUNDAY, MARCH 5

Taste of Blue Zones @ Manhattan Beach Civic Plaza (Manhattan Beach)

SATURDAY, MARCH 11

LA Environmental Education Fair @ Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden (Arcadia)

SUNDAY, MARCH 12

Grades of Green Fundraiser @ Lush, Del Amo Fashion Center (Torrance)

SUNDAY, APRIL 2

Star Eco Station’s Children’s Earth Day @ Star Eco Station (Culver City)

SATURDAY, APRIL 8

LA County Sanitation District Earth Day @ LA County Sanitation District Main Office (Whittier)

SATURDAY, APRIL 8

Bixby Knolls Earth Day @ 3737 Long Beach Boulevard (Long Beach)

SATURDAY, APRIL 22

Manhattan Beach Earth Day @ Polliwog Park (Manhattan Beach)

*For more information, please email us at info@gradesofgreen.org!

I am truly proud of our Grades of Green Team.  It has been a great educational experience for our students to be mindful of the importance to recycle and dispose of waste properly.  Students making conscious decisions to dispose their waste appropriately has actually helped with another problem…  birds!  We’ve had a seagull issue for years.  Now that very little food is left on tables and the waste is primarily concentrated in several areas the birds are not really much of an issue now.

Dear Grades of Green Team,

A BIG thank you to you! We appreciate your help in getting started. The assembly and presentation was amazing! This really helped students understand how they can help the environment and take an active role. The teachers were jazzed as well and want to start this in our lounge so they too, can participate.

Many thanks for what you do!

Teachers, you could be working alongside scientists on a fully funded field research expedition next summer! The Earthwatch Institute’s Teach Earth Fellowship will send extraordinary teachers from various subject areas to the field to collect data regarding important issues such as climate change. They hope this experience will inspire teachers to integrate science literacy and environmental awareness in the classroom. Get excited if you’re a K-12 teacher who is passionate about education, has an interest in environmental issues or conducting scientific research, and would like to play a part in improving science/environmental education.

Fill out this interest form to get started. Qualified teachers will be contacted to complete an application that will be due by December 18, 2016. Know a teacher that would be interested? Nominate them here!

Raising environmental awareness and stewardship can happen post-expedition or even right now at your school: if you feel positive change is in the air, help assemble a Grades of Green Team at your school to empower students as they green the school. Register to gain access to downloadable resources to use to inspire and empower your students to care for the environment!