When I first began my research for The Green Parent many years ago, I spoke with a lot of other parents who were either on the path to going green, or looking for more information about how to do so. I also spoke with kids, some of whom could care less about the planet, and who were just barely tolerating their parents green-ities. But the overwhelming majority of the kids I talked to were extremely concerned about the state of the environment and looking for ways to make a difference. In many cases, these same kids were facing an uphill battle at home with parents who were not at all interested in going green.

 

It was that kind of kid-focused initiative that inspired me to write The Green Teen, to give teens the tools they need to go green and help their peers, their parents, their school administrators, and their community members do the same. This is the same idea behind a new nationwide program called Green My Parents that aims to help kids teach their peers and parents how to work together to help the economy, earn money at home, and save the planet through simple, everyday actions. Scheduled to launch Earth Day 2010, this movement enables youth to bring their insightful perspective on how to reduce their parents’ use of resources and save money at home to make a huge difference in saving the planet and securing their future.

 

The group has an impressive list of collaborators, including National Wildlife Federation, Environmental Protection Agency, Carbonfund.org, Environmental Media Association, Earth Echo, Alliance for Climate Education, DonorsChoose.org, Kids vs. Global Warming, Green Youth Movement, Teens Turning Green, Slow Food USA, Green Charter Schools Network, Environmental Charter High School, Green Ambassadors, Kiva.Org and many others.

 

The book and website will officially launch on Earth Day, 2010 with “eco-assignments” that save money and the planet. Kids will learn how to kill energy vampires, make their pets greener, and more. They can also grade their parents on saving energy, water and gasoline. And after they calculate all of the money their parents are saving by going green, Green My Parents will show them how to negotiate with parents for their fair share of the savings.