National Green Week, meant to collectively demonstrate how eco-friendly choices can significantly reduce the volume of trash produced in schools, is scheduled to be launched during the week of February 2-8, 2009. More than one million students and 2,000 schools nation-wide are expected to participate in this environmental education campaign.

Children are encouraged to bring their snacks and drinks in reusable containers for the week and weigh their total classroom snack trash the week prior to and during National Green Week.

U.S. Senator John Kerry is a strong backer of National Green Week. The Green School Experiment “is not only effective in reducing waste but it also proved an interactive way for students to learn about the environment,” Senator Kerry commented. “I urge everyone across the nation to participate.”

The Green Education Foundation, which created the National Green Week, provides educational resources that promote sustainable, impactful pro-green behaviors in children, families and communities.

The objective of National Green Week is to empower children to become environmental stewards to protect our planets valuable resources. The program will also encourage families to consider healthy snack options and save money by buying in bulk and recycling, the foundation said in a press release.

Specific goals for National Green Week are to: Enlist students across the country to become green keepers and eliminate waste at their schools.

1. Jumpstart green education to children nationwide, instilling the importance of living green in a fun and simple manner.
2. Provide ongoing green education curriculum to schools and students.
3. In one week alone, reduce the amount of waste produced by children in schools by more than two million pounds.
4. In one week alone, save local government entities hundreds of thousands of dollars in trash removal fees.
5. Initiate new and improved home and school based recycling programs nationwide.

The Green School Experiment "is not only effective in reducing waste but it also proved an interactive way for students to learn about the environment," Senator Kerry commented. "I urge everyone across the nation to participate."

“By participating in National Green Week, students will learn that simple decisions such as the selection of waste-free snacks and drinks can combat monumental environmental problems,” says Victoria Waters, President and Founder, Green Education Foundation. “Children are in the best position to impact the future of our environment by developing green behaviors that become lifelong habits,” adds Waters.

The Green Education Foundation is also sponsoring a Green Day program at Boston University (BU) which takes place on Feb. 4, 2009 as a part of National Green Week. Partnering with Green Mountain Coffee and the Sargent College Rotaract Club, BU Green Day is designed to launch a lifetime of eco-friendly coffee-drinking habits in students and educate them on creative ways to reduce their carbon footprint.

For more information, and to enroll a school in the program, visit the National Green Week website.