Competitions, Challenges, and Collective Action

SMCOE Earth Day Toolkit for Student Leaders: This toolkit is designed to support student leaders in middle and high school (6-12 grade) to plan activities and campaigns for Earth Day. Visit the Earth Awareness Page for more resources for Earth Day and beyond! 

Student Community Impact Project Examples and Planning Template: A community impact project (CIP) is service work done by a person or group of people that benefits a local community (school, neighborhood, city, etc.). A solutionary is someone who is able to identify inhumane and unsustainable systems, then develop solutions that are healthy for people, animals, and the environment. In a solutionary community impact project, students analyze real-world environmental and social justice problems and develop solutions in their local community that seek to mitigate these problems through policy change, behavior change, and cultural mindset change. This document provides access to example projects and planning template resources. 

Youth Climate Movement: This page includes resources for exploring and participating in the Youth Climate Movement and the broader Climate Activist Movement. 

Sustainability Committees and Green Teams: This document supports leaders in understanding the characteristics, considerations, and successful models for running effective district and site level sustainability committees. There are example case studies of student-led committees embedded. 

CA Coastal Commission: Poetry & Art Contest - usually takes place in December

All entries for this poetry and art contest must have a California coastal or California marine theme (e.g. no tropical or Arctic settings or species). The competition is open to all California residents in kindergarten through grade 12 - there are five grade categories for awards in both art and poetry: K-1, 2-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12.

CA Recycling Challenge: Waste Competition - Usually takes place in February

This challenge is sponsored by Keep California Beautiful, and promote waste reduction activities at schools over a one month period. Schools report recycling and trash data which are then ranked according to who collects the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables. Register early as there are a lot of prize categories where schools can win up to $2,000!

CAL Water H20 Challenge: Only available to schools in Cal Water Areas - Usually takes place in February

• Classroom Competition: This is a project-based, environmentally-focused competition for classrooms, grades 4-6. 

• Individual Competition: This is a media contest for grades 4-12. 

Energize Schools: Three-week challenge usually in October and November

K-12 schools served by Pacific Gas and Electric and 9-12 schools served by Southern California Edison are eligible to compete to save electricity!  Groups that sign up to compete are often environmental clubs & green teams, leadership clubs, science & engineering classes, and any students and faculty interested in making a difference at their school!

BrightAction: The mission of Bright Action is to empower everyone to learn about solutions and what they can do to make an impact.  Bright Action creates customized platforms for organizations and communities to engage in action based campaigns that track individual and collective action. 

Count Us In: The mission of this organization is Our to inspire ONE billion citizens to significantly reduce their carbon pollution and challenge leaders to deliver bold, global change. They have a 16 step program that anyone can participate in that will reduce your personal carbon pollution and increase your power to influence leaders and involve other people in the same cause. 

DoSomething.org: This global, non-profit organization has the goal of motivating young people to make positive change, both online and offline, through campaigns that make an impact. Through DoSomething.org campaigns, young people have run the largest youth-led sports equipment drive, clothed half of America’s teens in homeless shelters, cleaned up 3.7 million cigarette butts, and much more! A great starting point for individuals to consider where to take action is, "The Money Saving Guide to Going Green At Home."

Eco Challenge: Sponsored by the Northwest Earth Institute, the Eco Challenge gives people the tools and inspiration to reduce their impact on the planet and contribute to a healthy, vibrant, and sustainable future — while having fun in the process! They have public challenges hosted throughout the year and locations are also welcome to host their own challenges on a timeline that works best for them. 

Grades of Green: Grades of Green offers 40+ activities aimed to instill environmental values in students. Whether one wants to concentrate on conserving air, energy, waste, water, or toxins, Grades of Green has an array of activities that will help protect the environment today while instilling environmental values in students for years to come. Their activities can be completed at any point during the year. 

Green Apple Day of Service: Sponsored by the USGBC's Center for Green Schools, the Green Apple Day of Service is a unique moment to join schools across the world to celebrate the central role that schools play in preparing the next generation of leaders in sustainability. A school’s event is an opportunity to give students hands-on experience with sustainability, strengthening civic leadership, environmental literacy, and project management skills. Projects register at the start of the school year and then can happen any time August through May. 

Green Schoolyard Month: Sponsored by Green Schoolyards America, May is Living Schoolyard Month and is a chance for school communities to highlight how they utilize their living school grounds for outdoor learning, play and other activities. It is a great opportunity to do community service in a school garden or outdoor classroom and to celebrate the benefits of living schoolyards for students. 

Ignatian Carbon Challenge: The objective of the Ignatian Carbon Challenge is to respond to our current ecological context, the needs of the global community, and Pope Francis’s call to be responsible stewards of creation. High school students, faculty, and other community members as well as institutions will learn about climate change and appropriate, concrete methods for living more sustainable lives. Schools and students do not need to be Catholic to participate, and the challenges run September through May. 

Keep America Beautiful Waste Challenges: Keep America Beautiful (KAB) promotes a number of clean-up and waste related challenges. 

One Planet Student: One Planet Student is a project of One Planet Living, that aims to support youth to take action on each of the One Planet Living Principles, and to get recognized for being a youth environmental and climate leader. Through One Planet Student, youth create a portfolio of action and learning that can be certified and included on a resume for college, internships, and jobs. 

Project Green Challenge: Teens Turning Green hosts Project Green Challenge (PGC), which engages high school and college students globally in a 30-day challenge during the month of October. Each day participants compete on environmentally themed challenges that provide students with mentorship, advocacy, and leadership skills. Teens Turning Green also hosts a number of other events and programs for high school and college students. 

Project Green Schools Race for the Planet: Project Green Schools invites students and schools to engage in climate action. Leaders will host a 2-6 week challenge that support participants to compete in energy and environmental games and challenges held throughout the year focusing on energy, water, waste, and sustainability. These challenges will raise funds to support a unique project goal to Green Up Your School/Community. If you don't like the idea of fundraising just consider using the concept of the challenges in a different way. 

Young Voices for the Planet: The Young Voices for the Planet short films feature youth speaking out, creating solutions, changing laws, changing minds and changing society as they reduce the carbon footprint of their homes, schools and communities. Use the videos to inspire action in your local community, and then post your success stories on the Young Voices for the Planet page, and become part of a larger movement.

Do One Thing: The Alliance for Climate Education sponsors the "Do One Thing" Campaign, which is a push to get children and youth to do one thing to fight climate change and help the planet. This campaign shows the power of collective action, and the more people that join in, the bigger difference it will make.

Food Day - Oct 24: Every year, October 24 is a day to resolve to make changes in our own diets and to take action to solve food-related problems in our communities at the local, state, and national level. This annual event involves some of the country’s most prominent food activists, united by a vision of food that is healthy, affordable, and produced with care for the environment, farm animals, and the people who grow, harvest, and serve it. With Food Day, we can celebrate our food system when it works and fix it when it’s broken.

Green Cup Challenges™: The Green School Alliance hosted annual Green Cup Challenges, which empowered students, raise awareness about climate change and resource conservation, and unite school communities around a common goal such as reducing energy use, and improving their recycling and waste reduction programs.