National Green Week 2010 was a huge success with over two million students participating in environmental education programs and activities from Feb.1 - Earth Day (April 22 ) 2010.

Read on to learn the incredible results of the program.Read on to learn all about the National Green Week 2011 program and how to get involved today. National Green Week's 2011 objective is to empower students to become environmental stewards within the context of their own lives.

Green Education Foundation (GEF) provides all the educational content for the program including standards based environmental lessons that are easily incorporated into science, math, language arts, social studies, and creative arts curricula. Following are some of the GEF eco-challenges that schools can participate in during National Green Week 2011:

National Green Week is a free program. Schools and groups are encouraged to take this opportunity, whether for the week, a day or an assignment to spend time with their students discussing environmental issues and specifically what they can do to make a difference. Please view the National Green Week 2011 Start-up Kit for all the details on how to participate in the program.

Visit the National Green Week website!

Curriculum
Please visit the Curriculum section to access a multitude of environmental lessons for National Green Week.

Nearly 750,000 students carried their drinks and snacks in reusable containers during the waste-free snacks challenge, effectively eliminating over 300,000 pounds of trash - in just five days!

• Waste-Free Snacks & Lunches - Students nationwide will participate in the largest school based waste-reduction program in history by pledging to carry their drinks, snacks and home packed lunches in reusable containers for the week. The combined totals will be tallied and posted on the GEF website on Earth Day 2010 (April 22).
• Green Energy Challenge - Students will audit their classrooms, schools and homes to find energy leaks and correct them in an effort to reduce energy consumption at school and at home.
• Walk/Bike/Carpool Week - Students and their families will make a concerted effort to walk, bike and/or carpool for the week.
• Idle Free Week - Principals will encourage all parents and bus drivers to turn off their ignitions when wait time is longer than 20 seconds.

Following are the specific objectives of the program:

1. Enlist students across the country to become green keepers and eliminate waste at their schools.
2. Provide ongoing environmental curriculum to schools and students.
3. In one week alone, reduce the amount of waste produced by children in schools by more than a half a million pounds.
4. Initiate new and improved home and school based recycling programs nationwide.
5. Launch over 10,000 school gardens (indoor or outdoor).
6. Enlist over 500,000 students to take on the role of energy auditors at their schools and homes and implement effective improvements

GEF will also provide following envionmental educational programs:

• Environmental educational activities, projects, games and exercises for Pre K-12 students. These educational supplements are cross-referenced according to environmental subject (air and water quality, biodiversity, climate change, energy, school gardening, and waste/ pollution/recycling); academic disciplines (math, science, English and social studies), and grade level.
• An online interactive community enabling teachers and students to learn and share best practices with one another.
• Creative arts resources for after-school, summer, and home-based projects that further reinforce environmental concepts.

Online Community
Schools will participate in the largest environmental educational online community in history where educators and students can upload videos, photos, stories, and illustrations to document and share environmental learning's with one another.The goal is to prove that by working together, students, parents and communities can institute environmentally-sound practices that will have measurable and sustainable impact on our environment.

National Green Week 2011 is a free program. Schools and groups are encouraged to take this opportunity, whether for the week, a day or an assignment to spend time with their students discussing environmental issues and specifically what they can do to make a difference. The GEF website will announce the impact of the combined efforts on behalf of all of the schools and green keepers. Please view the National Green Week 2010 start-up kit for all the details on how to participate in the program.

Healthy snacking is an important part of daily life. To visit GEF's healthy snacking page, click here!

Editorials
Please visit the GEF Editorial Section to read about the benefits of children interacting with nature.

Enrollment
This program begins October 2009. Enroll today!

© 2009 Green Education Foundation (GEF) Eco-Challenge Series All rights reserved.
Fostering the next generation of environmental stewards.

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