Mission Green School Extravaganza!

It has never been more important to green our schools! Not only because schools are around for the future so they need to be sustainable, but also because it teaches children to be green as well!

We will continue Green School Week by focusing on building a school garden. If your school already has one, great! Be sure to be involved. If not, first step is to get one going! Check Rebel Tomato for more resources to start.

You will see that the first step is to get a Garden Committee going. Be sure this group includes students! Even if your child's school doesn't have a lot of property, there are ways to grow veggies and herbs indoors.

Once the Garden Committee is formed and the school administration is ready to devote the space they can, it is time to get some fundraisers going to get seeds, soil if indoors, and supplies.

The California School Garden Network lists several grant opportunities, as well as the National Gardening Association and Kids Gardening!

That's it - easy! 1. Form the Garden Committee 2. Get approval for school space 3. Apply for a grant and/or do a fundraiser to get supplies!

You can view online Setting Up and Running a School Garden by City Farmer which includes all the steps!

Is there a Green Team at your School?

Creating a Green Team at your child's school will make a big difference in ensuring green actions take place. This team can be comprised of a dedicated teacher, committed students and an administrator to approve ideas.

The Green Team's first task is to set a monthly meeting time, then to set three main goals to green the school.

Possible goals are: recycling, saving electricity, saving water, setting up a school garden, composting, community education and fairs, incorporating environmental education into the curriculum and more!

Help your child to set up a Green Team at his or her school today!!!

Check out the Green Team at Fayetteville for more ideas!

Green Your Child's School Week

This week, in honor of the passing of my father-in-law, who was an amazing Headmaster at Manlius Pebble Hill School in New York, we are going to focus on one of his missions - to green schools!

It may feel overwhelming to think about how to green a whole school, especially as a parent, but there are always simple steps.

The first this week is to find out if your child's school recycles. If not, meet with the principle or head to ask about consideration of including recycling receptacles throughout the school for cans, bottles, and paper.

The California Bright Schools Program serves as a valuable resources for helping schools to start.

For today, just focus on recycling. If your child's school does not have or can't adopt a recycling program, then encourage your child to bring any paper or bottles he or she uses during the day home so you can recycle those items at home.

Mission Green Home

This week's mission is all about greening your home. To start for Monday, make one simple change - yes, you have heard it before but it is easy and makes such a difference - change those light bulbs!

First, get rid of those incandescent bulbs. Second, look for the Energy Star approved bulbs such as LED and CFLs. Keep in mind that CFLs do contain a small amount of mercury making them more difficult to dispose of.

Here's a link to those LED lights to make it even easier for you to see what they look like and then go out to buy them today!




The most eco-friendly light bulb out there is the natural sun! Keep your windows open and let the sun shine in for as long as you can instead of turning on the lamp.

Wear Red Day

To finish out the preparations for Valentine's Day, I ask that we honor one of our most amazing gifts, our heart. Without our heart we would not be here, we would not be here to love and to live. Our hearts pump everyday for us and we need to help educate everyone about the need to take care of our tickers.

When you wear red on Valentine's Day, pay tribute to one of the most fabulous wonders of nature, our heart, by telling at least one other person about the American Heart Association and their commitment to fight heart disease.

Read more at Wear Red Day.

Your Big Green Heart

This Valentine's Day, actually everyday, share your big green heart! Show some love to the people around you and the planet in anyway, everyday, and your green heart will help keep the world beautiful!

Eat Organic on Valentine's Day

The internet has given us such gifts. Now, it is easy to find the local and organic eateries near you. Check out the Eat Well Guide for local, sustainable restaurants in your area. You can find local Farm to Table restaurants as well at American Farm to Table.

This Valentine's Day consider eating out with your love at a local restaurant that obtains their vegetables and meats from local and organic farms. The food you eat will be healthier and more delicious and you will have helped to cut carbon emissions since the food doesn't have to travel far.

Your heart will overflow with romance, delight, and pride in choosing to eat well and do well on your Valentine's Day date out!

Mission Green Valentine's Day Tuesday

Show your love with a plant. You may think it is not as romantic as that incredibly large and very noticeable bouquet of red roses delivered to your honey's workplace, but it is. A plant can be chosen based on a memorable event or tradition the two of you share. Or, maybe a plant that has meaning to your whole family.

After you plant it, as the years go by, that meaning will remain in your lives. The beauty of that plant will live on.

How can you get more romantic than that?!

Check out Local Harvest to find organic farmer's markets and nurseries near you to choose your special plant in time for Valentine's Day

Mission Green Valentine's Day!

Time to get ready for a green Valentine's Day! Everyday this week you will receive new tips to prepare to have the greenest Valentine's Day ever!


To start, for Monday, begin to prepare by purchasing eco-friendly, fair trade, organic chocolate. Most of us typically buy chocolates we see all pretty in a big red box with ribbons. Do we know where that chocolate was produced, how it was made? And, really, how much packaging is necessary to hold some chocolates?

Do some research online by googling organic, fair-trade chocolate. There are a few options, but my personal recommendation is Endangered Species Chocolate because they are organic, fair-trade, and give 10% of their profits to help the environment. You have time to order some - your sweetheart will appreciate the thought as well as the taste of this Valentine!

Clean Air Challenge Friday

Can you do it? Can you rise to the challenge? If you completed the missions thus far this week for Mission Clean Air, then I think you can!

Today, Friday, and for the rest of the weekend, do not use your car! AAAAAHHHH! You read correctly - do not use your car. The only way to get around would be your feet, a bicycle, and if you must, public transportation. For those who live in the city, this is probably already your way of life. For those of you in Southern California, this may be an adjustment.

Have fun and enjoy where your legs and feet can take you!

Read more about National Bike Week 2011 to get ready for that too!

Calling Guest Blogger Submissions!

Do you love the earth? Do you have a fresh and different perspective to motivate people to do a little green everyday?

If so, apply to be a guest blogger!


1. Write a blog article that you feel conveys your love of green and put that article on your own blog.
2. Comment on this Be The Green Queen blog entry with a link to your blog entry - I will follow your blog too!
3. Follow the Green Queens and Kings Facebook page here

Guest authors with a fresh voice will be selected by February 15th and will be notified via a personal message on facebook. Your article will then be featured here, with two more articles, one per month and the possibility of a longer working relationship.

Looking for some fellow Green Queens!!!

Plant a Tree Thursday

For Mission Clean Air Week, plant a tree!

Trees give us oxygen! Did you notice how much cleaner the air feels in your lungs and on your skin when you are in a forest? Aaaahhhhh - those trees!

Support Arbor Day and their many programs! So simple - plant a tree!!!!

Mission Clean Air Wednesday

To piggyback on yesterday, we can reduce emissions by doing one simple thing

CARPOOLING!

In many areas of the U.S., those who carpool are even rewarded with a carpool lane on freeways which gets them to work even faster. Rideshare programs can be found around the U.S. at Rideshare Online.

You will have a much more sociable and fun start to your workday, make new friends, and enjoy the reward of helping to keep the air cleaner by carpooling!