With the help of several Grades of Green students,  Grades of Green celebrated Halloween early by co-hosting a booth with the Manhattan Beach Downtown Business and Professional Association at the Manhattan Beach Pumpkin Races. While competitors waited their turn to race their custom-built pumpkins down Manhattan Beach Blvd, Grades of Green students taught them how to reduce waste through a fun activity called veggie stamping. Grades of Green’s veggie stamping activity involves dipping scraps from veggies like onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes in an ink pad, and then stamping the beautiful and intricate designs onto trick-or-treat bags. Attendees also got to guess the weight of a giant pumpkin for the chance to win a free basket of delicious (and eco-friendly) Manhattan Beach Farmers Market produce!




Are you interested reducing waste in your community? Join Grades of Green’s Waste Campaign to research local waste issues, develop innovative solutions, and share those solutions with your school or community. Click here to sign up today! You can also check out this brochure about the program or watch this quick video to learn more!

Grades of Green wishes a very happy 11th anniversary to the Manhattan Beach Farmers Market! To celebrate, Grades of Green hosted a booth with our signature veggie stamping activity. Visitors were invited to create beautiful designs with veggie scraps while learning about the importance of reducing, reusing, recycling, and composting.

A few lucky attendees even got to meet Sam H., a Grades of Green Youth Corps Eco-Leader who is collecting used shoes at the Manhattan Beach Farmers Market all summer long! Sam wants to keep as many shoes out of landfills as possible by donating them to those in need of shoes. Since he began his shoe collection in 2011, Sam has collected over 17,000 pairs of shoes. At the 11th anniversary celebration alone, Sam was able to collect over 300 pairs of shoes! You can read more about Sam’s shoe collection as well as his goal of collecting 25,000 shoes by clicking here. If you have unwanted shoes you would like to donate, please place them in the designated shoe collection bins at the Manhattan Beach Farmers Market on Tuesdays from 11am to 5pm.

Can’t make it to the Farmers Market? Donate used shoes at Tabula Rasa in Manhattan Beach from July 14 – 16 and receive a discount on your purchase! Tabula Rasa is generously offering special discounts in the store, and the discount gets better and better the more pairs of shoes you donate. Learn more about this limited time offer by clicking here.

All shoe donations to Tabula Rasa and the Manhattan Beach Farmers Market will help Sam reach his goal of collecting 25,000 pairs of shoes and will ultimately go to those in need of shoes. Thank you to the Manhattan Beach Farmer’s Market and Tabula Rasa for supporting Sam in his quest to keep used shoes out of landfills!

Did you know over 300 million children in the world can’t afford shoes, yet millions of shoes are dumped into landfills each year? Sam H., a Grades of Green Youth Corps Eco-Leadership student, wanted to do something about this problem. Since 2011 when he first joined the Youth Corps, Sam has worked Grades of Green and Soles 4 Souls to collect used shoes and donate them to those in need. His goal is to collect 25,000 pairs of shoes before he starts college this fall and if he succeeds, he will earn a trip to Africa to visit those who benefited from his shoe collection. After six years of hard work, Sam managed to collect 17,000 pairs of shoes – and he only needs 8,000 more to reach his goal!

This summer Sam is partnering with Grades of Green and the Manhattan Beach Farmers Market for one final push to complete his goal, but we need your help! Please bring any unwanted used shoes to the designated collection bins located at the Manhattan Beach Farmers Market on Tuesdays from 11am – 5pm. These bins will be available all summer long, and all shoes will go to supporting Sam’s goal. Want to learn more about Sam’s shoe collection and play some fun and educational activities during your next visit to the Manhattan Beach Farmers Market? Be sure to visit the Grades of Green booth during the Manhattan Beach Farmers Market Anniversary on July 11th – we hope to see you there with your used shoes!

Want to take an an eco-activity like Sam? Click here to learn more about Grades of Green’s Youth Corps Eco-Leadership Program!