The new, super snazzy, hi-tech website is now live… get your login and join the fun on Day #1 of Project Green Challenge. Today’s theme is a good starter: “Eco Profile.” What’s your green quotient at the start of the 30 day lifestyle challenge? Here is our brand new site… browse around, learn, share, and have fun going from conventional to conscious over the course of the coming month!
We cannot believe that this day has finally arrived. PGC is set to launch in just a couple of hours!! Check out some stats below…
We love Practically Green! Check out this awesome post…
Everyone who reads this blog knows a teenager, right? Or knows a teacher, a coach, a doctor, a neighbor who knows a teenager? Maybe you ARE a teenager!
Join Project Green Challenge, an amazing month-long event created especially for students!
The brainchild of Erin Schrode and her friends at Teens Turning Green, it launches October 1 with an entire month of exciting daily activities. Practically Green is proud to be a media sponsor to support the Challenge all month.
Find out about Project Green Dorm, Project Green Prom, Project Lunch, Teens Turning Green for Schools — and lots of other smart ways to be eco-friendly.
Erin’s mom Judi just emailed to say, “46 states.. 14 countries .. hundreds of schools.. thousands of students.. unprecedented! … so grateful.”
Have a look and plunge in: “30 days to take your lifestyle from conventional to conscious.” Wouldn’t you love to wake up on November 1st having accomplished just that?
One week to go until Project Green Challenge starts! Watch our new video with Erin and SIGN UP SIGN UP SIGN UP!!
Who doesn’t want an organic mattress?! I CERTAINLY DO! And it seems that a lot of other people do too, by the rate of sign ups coming in for Project Green Challenge (hundreds in the past couple of hours from over a dozen countries and 44 states!). Check out this latest post from our brilliant, industry-leading partner OMI…
Teens Turning Green
Posted on September 25, 2011 by omiwhitney
Our friend Erin Schrode from Teens Turning Green is one of the brilliant young minds behind Project Green Challenge, a powerful, diverse, and far-reaching movement inspiring young people to take action and protect our planet.
Here is a exert from their website about the movement:
This October, Teens Turning Green is energizing high school and college students across the country to participate in Project Green Challenge, a 30-day green lifestyle initiative. The Challenge will raise awareness about conscious living, informed consumption and the collective impact of each of our actions.
With the guidance of eco experts, industry leaders and the PGC Guide to Living Green, participants will discover how fun, easy and effective eco living can be.
How it Works
Throughout October a daily green challenge will be outlined onProjectGreenChallenge.com and in an email delivered to each participant who has signed up . Each challenge will be supported with resources, tips, facts and a green glossary.
Over the course of the 30-day Challenge, participants will share their responses to challenge tasks on ProjectGreenChallenge.com utilizing Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Get Your Green Diploma
Contestants who complete the 30-day Challenge can apply for the Challenge Finals. Ten finalists will be selected to participate in Green University, a two-day eco summit held in California this December. Students will be flown to San Francisco where they will learn from esteemed eco leaders, present experiences from the 30-day Challenge, and work together to create unique platforms for social action.This new slate of projects will be implemented by Teens Turning Greenand youth nationwide in 2012.
Challenge Champion
A panel of judges will name one finalist as the Project Green Challenge Champion. The winner will receive a one-of-a-kind prize package and the opportunity to work with Teens Turning Green and its partners in the coming year.
Join the Challenge!
Be apart of a world changing initiative – sign up today!
And be sure to get your friends and school involved in Project Green Challenge. Two students from participating schools will be invited to participate as Project Green Challenge Campus Reps and to lead the effort on their school campuses. Click here if you want to see what the job entails and to sign up.
Take the challenge today and help your generation protect our planet!
We are loving this piece on Celebrate Green all about PGC and more! They really do “put the meaning in the greening.”
Remember when a huge auditorium wasn’t big enough to contain your passion and enthusiasm? If you’ve lost some of that, time to find it again. And the best place to look could be toward young people like Erin Schrode, 20, Project Green Challenge program director and co-founder of Teens Turning Green.
Erin, along with her mother, TTG founder and executive director Judi Shils, and 15 TTG interns from around the country spent the last four months developing the concept for Project Green Challenge, an online initiative that seeks to engage high school and college students across the country and inspire them to transition “from conventional to conscious,” via a 30-day green lifestyle challenge.
So if you live with teens or young adults, or know some, encourage them to join the the fun and live Project Green Challenge’s tagline, “from conventional to conscious in 30-days.” This is something that could impact them (and ultimately the planet), for the rest of their lives
1. What sorts of steps are included? Which ones do you expect students will jump into and which will be a little less likely for them to initiate?
Each of the thirty days will have a theme, ranging from water to organic food, energy to personal care, sustainable apparel to exercise, recycling to advocacy, and much more. Some are very specific, take organic cotton for an example — delving into the environmental and social consequences of the plethora of products we use daily that are made from cotton. The home/dorm/space challenge is multifaceted and takes a more holistic approach, encouraging people to assess their surroundings and its many elements.
Advocacy is much more meta—a mindset shift. So we have a wide range of themes and entry points, which we hope will appeal to the masses. No matter what your interest, background, focus in life, there are Challenges that will have specific relevance. Some, like healthy food or switching from single use to reusable items, are familiar topics, top of mind, in the media—and therefore may be more easily embraced, while others will be entirely new, venturing into uncharted territories. Both of those options excite us and our audience!
There will be a “green challenge” that participants are asked to complete, with specifics tasks/actions/deliverables. If people want to delve deeper, there are daily “greener” and “greenest” levels, with prizes to incentivize engagement. After the 30 days, participants will have the chance to apply for the Challenge Finals, a two-day fun and educational eco extravaganza in San Francisco in December. Ten will then be selected and flown to SF, receiving great prizes packages and the chance to interact with and hear from esteemed leaders and competing for the grand prize as Challenge champion. Prize info is on our website, if you want to take a look.
2. How did you come up with the challenges? Were students included in putting them together?
I led a team of fifteen interns this summer, working tirelessly to develop challenges based upon what was relevant and interesting to our demographic: high school and college students. We had a ball dreaming up ideas and refining them! We have not merely had input or approval in the process, rather we have been leading it every step of the way, in collaboration with leading experts in the each of the fields. This is a true collaboration, and forging partnerships with NGOs, media outlets, and corporations/businesses has been integral to our success. We tap into all of those vast knowledge and content bases, so as to not reinvent the wheel. Project Green Challenge is of youth, by youth, for youth — that you can be sure of!
3. What kind of lasting impact do you expect the challenge to have?
I want to shift the mindset of my generation, to be that spark, the impetus that spurs a transition from conventional to conscious. I know from personal experience with my friends that when a person starts thinking critically, begins to incorporate green and ethical practices into the everyday, it extends into all aspects of one’s lifestyle, school, community, etc. You can’t stop!! This is what I dream of — a world of conscious citizens who speak up, speak out when they see injustice, and are active in bringing about the change that we so desperately need in our world. I have faith in my peers; if we establish patterns of responsibility now, as the future consumer base, voting block, industry leaders, parents, and more, we can shift the paradigm.
Project Green Challenge is powered by Natracare. Lead sponsors include Whole Foods Market, Nature’s Path, The Container Store, Seventh Generation, Replenish, Kejriwal, Steelcase and Swisspers with support from Juice Beauty, Burt’s Bees, PeopleTowels, Annie’s, and New Leaf Paper.
Non Profit Partners: 350.org, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, Cradle to Cradle Institute, Eco to Go, Ecomom Alliance, Environmental Media Association (EMA), Fair Trade USA, Global Action Through Fashion, Green Schools Initiative, Green Chamber of Commerce, Healthy Child Healthy World, Non GMO Project, NRDC, One Young World, Pesticide Watch, The Lunch Box, The Schoolbag, Women’s Voices for the Earth
Media Partners: Coco Eco Magazine, DrGreene.com, EcoFabulous.com, EcoMom.com, EcoStiletto.com, GoodGuide.com, Gorgeously Green, GretaGuide.com, Natural Health Magazine, PracticallyGreen.com, TakePart.com
Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson are mother and daughter and authors of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, and founders of Green Halloween®.
Healthy Child Healthy World has some great tips on healthy schools, including taking part in PGC and the GGUSA contest (for which our very own Erin Schrode is a judge). Sign up for both today!
How Can I Get My Child’s School To Be Greener & Safer?
by Janelle Sorensen, Chief Communications Officer, Healthy Child Healthy World
When my husband and I toured schools to find the one we wanted to enroll our daughter in, I’m sure I was silently voted one of the strangest parents ever. Why do I feel I was secretly endowed with this title? Because every room and hallway we were taken through, I sniffed. A lot. And, according to my husband, I wasn’t terribly discreet.
I didn’t have a cold or postnasal drip. And, I’m not part bloodhound. I was simply concerned about the indoor air quality. My daughter was prone to respiratory illnesses and I wanted to be sure the school she would be attending would support and protect her growing lungs in addition to her brain. For many air quality issues, your nose knows, so I was using the easiest tool I had to gauge how healthy the environment was.
Back then, I was part of a very fringe minority of parents concerned about toxics in our everyday environments. Today, the movement is much larger and there are many more opportunities for creating cleaner, greener, safer school environments. Here are just a few:
Global Green USA Green School Makeover Contest. Global Green USA is working to ensure that every child has the opportunity to learn in a healthier, greener school. Their Green School Makeover Competition, as presented by Pureology, gives you the chance to help a school in your area by nominating it for a Green School Makeover. Go to Green School Contestto enter your school (by September 30th) and learn more. In December 2011, Global Green will announce one grand prize winner to receive $65,000 to renovate their school, plus approximately $65,000 of in-kind technical assistance, and four schools will each receive $2,500 towards their green school renovations.
Whole Kids Foundation School Garden Grant Program. The newly established Whole Kids Foundation has launched the School Garden Grant Program initiative to educate students on healthy eating habits, sustainability conservation and community awareness. The organization has teamed with Whole Foods Market and FoodCorps to provide grants of $2,000 to grant school garden wishes throughout the U.S., UK and Canada. To date, they have raised more than $708,000 for the School Garden Grant Program! Do you know a school in need? Applications will be accepted through December 31, 2011. Visit Whole Kids Foundation for more details.
Episencial 2011 Green Your School Grant Preschool Program.Episencial has partnered with Ecomom, CleanWell, Revolution Foods and Eco-Kids to offer more than $30,000 in green goods and funds through the 2011 Green Your School Grant Preschool Program. For more information, visit Episencial.
Woolly School Gardens. Woolly Pockets is helping plant modular gardens at schools across the nation through their Woolly School Gardens program. Schools just need to have one teacher or manager to oversee the program, a sunny wall or fence and $1,000 to get their own outdoor garden. The garden comes complete with 50 Woolly Pockets, do-it-yourself hardware and instructions, premium soil, organic seeds, compost tea, a planting chart and gardening manual and Nutrition and Garden Curriculum Lessons. For schools that don’t have the budget, Woolly provides easy fundraising suggestions and an online fundraising platform that schools may use to raise funds for their garden. Their goal is to help thousands of more schools land their own gardens over the next year. Learn more atWoolly School Gardens.
Teens Turning Green Project Green Challenge – The Project Green Challenge seeks to engage high school and college students across the country and inspire them to transition “from conventional to conscious,” via a 30-day green lifestyle Challenge.
National Walk to School Day – This year Healthy Child is supporting EveryBody Walk http://everybodywalk.org/ and National Walk to School Day because walking (or biking) is not only great for promoting health, but it’s also a way to reduce air pollution created by vehicle exhaust. Walk more. Pollute less. Breathe easier!
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution – Get the facts, find support, and start a campaign to improve your school’s food using the tools and resources the Jamie Oliver Foundation has developed.
Healthy Schools Network – This national non-profit is working to create healthier school environments for all children. They coordinate a coalition of over 400 partners, provide a wealth of information and referral services, and coordinate the National Healthy Schools Day every April. Host your own event to raise awareness of the issue and launch a local effort to improve school environments.
The Green Flag Program – The Center for Health, Environment and Justice coordinates this student-led program to make schools healthier places to work and learn. This flexible three-step program will help you advance your schools environmental behaviors and become a shining example to others. Achieve recognition for all the good work your school already does, and improve your program with the support of teachers and field experts across the country.
Erin’s latest post for Practically Green…
Back to School or Work: Eco-Friendly Choices
Thursday, August 25th, 2011
You don’t have to be a little first-grader to get psyched about freshening up your backpack, lunchbox, and writing supplies! It’s a great time of year for to get great deals and see what’s new on the eco-front. We asked Erin Schrode to help us get organized. She knows her green and she knows her stuff!
Back to School in Eco Style
By Erin Schrode
The end of summer is around the corner and school is, once again, upon us. Early morning wake-ups, packing lunches, and after school activities will all soon become routine, but first… back-to-school shopping. In the US alone, families spend an average of up to $800 on these school supplies. That is a lot of money and a lot of products, yet it need not produce excessive waste. This is the perfect time to incorporate eco into your daily life and become a conscious consumer. It is super simple for parents, teachers, kids, and all the rest of us that love school and office supply shopping (and sales!) can start turning green this back-to-school season!
First things first: let’s talk classroom essentials like pencils, pens, paper.
When purchasing eco-friendly back-to-school basics, it’s critical to look for items made from recycled content. Many pencils and pens are refillable and made using post-consumer waste, as are some rulers and scissors. This reduces resource consumption and the need to manufacture using our limited natural resources.
If buying new, choose FSC-certified pencils to ensure that wood is sustainably harvested. A far better choice! I am a fan of New Leaf notebooks and paper, ReBinder folders and binders, Ecojot notebooks,PaperMate ReThinkpens, and EarthWrite pencils, Zebra Pen Eco, Forest Choice pencils, Pilot BeGreen, BIC Ecolutions, Kleanearth Scissors, and 3M eco-friendly tape and recycled Post-Its, to name but a few of the many eco brands on the market today.
LOVE the orange EcoJot notebook!!
But what do you put all of these materials in? An eco backpack or tote bag, of course. My top picks are made from either recycled fabrics or organic cotton – and are not only stylish, but also durable, spacious, and multi-purposed, like this recycled Baggu pack (my first choice: red!), any number of these environmentally friendly, artisan-made, and fair labor FEED bags, or solar-powered energy-producing Voltaic backpack.
Backpack from Baggu
Erin Schrode is at NYU majoring majoring in Cross-Cultural Diplomacy and Communications. Right now she’s packing her eco-bags for a semester in Madrid. Erin is the co-founder of Teens Turning Green. “a student led movement devoted to education and advocacy around environmentally and socially responsible choices for individuals, schools, and communities.” TTG hosts a 30-day lifestyle challenge this October. Find out more here.
We were wowed by Erin’s presentation at Sustainable Brands Conference in June, and we think you’ll enjoy watching her describe how her parents raised her green, and how to engage millennials:http://erinschrode.com/Videos.html
Follow Erin on Twitter: @erinschrode. And get involved with Teens Turning Green here.
Project Green Challenge 
