GMP will be lending its unique Eco-Economic Voice to the “Plastics are Forever International Youth Summit” in Los Angeles in March 2011. Want to join us: win a chance to Join 100 Youth Leaders. And, by the way, of course it will be fun. Just ask the guys from The Buried Life:

The Buried Life presents Algalita’s Plastics Are Forever International Youth Summit

RUN or BIKE: The deadline for submitting your team’s solution to plastic pollution is November 30. Don’t forget to submit your idea for a shot to join 100 other teens, media experts and environmental leaders. Read more @ http://www.plasticsareforever.org/.

CAUTION: SUMMER IS OVER. Well, it is almost labor day, and we all know what that means… No, not just a long weekend for a lot of people who work, but it usually means then end of summer (boo!) which always means back to school. Here are a few of our favorite ways that GMP youth have told us they are jumpstarting efforts at home to shake Moms and Dads out of their summer slumbers, and challenge them to “save big” by jumping back into the swing of GreenMyParents… Please send us your updates too, we can share them!

1. GreenMyRoutine
2. TakeIn – TakeOut
3. WaterBottleBox
4. Easiest Way to Get to School On-Time? Leave Earlier!
5. GreenMySupplies

1. GreenMyRoutine: this is a catch all, to give everyone around the dinner table a little heads up about your new role as the “Chief of Sustainability” in your house!
Take the time to meet with parents and siblings to talk about how the day (and night) unfolds differently now that everyone is changing up their routines. Of course, reviewing the utility bills, killing energy vampires, reducing wasted resources is going continue, but now that everyone is up and out the door in the morning, there are probably a few tweaks and revisions to your program to consider and champion around the household. For example,even faster showers in the morning are a great way to streamline the morning rituals, reduce competition for the bathroom, and re-introduce the family effort to save over $100 on water.

2. TakeIn – TakeOut: we hear that a lot of people are making the most of their commitment to saving money, saving the planet and reducing waste by re-using their “take out” containers as their new lunch box. Do you really need your parents to “invest” in a new plastic box or brown paper bags every week, when you can bring a sandwich in a (washed) “Chinese Food” container to surprise friends? Some kids are even stylizing their “take away” food boxes to be more personal and fun! All it requires is a little planning and willingness to stand out as a someone who cares and is committed to reducing waste to start a cool creative trend on your campus. So, as Sean R., 16, from Florida says “Stow it! Don’t Throw It.” and don’t let your parents waste over $50 on plastic food containers for school, or even $100s on hot lunches, which add to the contents of your local landfill. Save money, help heal the planet while you show your style and ingenuity by “taking in” your take out boxes. Of course, these containers can be avoided entirely by investing in low cost re-usable containers and challenging your local “take out” spot to pack up the food in the boxes you provide. Some will even offer you a small discount, like the grocery store that pays a few cents to bring your own bags!

3. WaterBottleBox! Another great idea from Olivia, 12, is to create a “bottle box” near the front door, so that anyone going out of the house immediately remembers to grab a refillable canteen long before they get parched and start looking to buy one more plastic bottle of water. This is a HUGE savings, and obviously a great way to make it easy for everyone to start their day with an “aha” moment about reducing waste, looking very hip, and keeping tons of plastic out of landfills. This simple idea could save your family thousands!

4) Easiest Way to Get to School On-Time? Leave Earlier! Perhaps one of the hardest things about going back to school is dragging ourselves out of bed, after a summer of hitting the snooze button. Well it literally pays to get up earlier, and you can help boost your GMP fund by making sure your family doesn’t waste gas by leaving the house late and driving faster than necessary. If you get up, get ready (cut that shower time!) and get out the door with time to spare, your mom can drive way slower, your dad can ride his bike (maybe!) or perhaps you can all share a ride with a friend or take the bus to school or work. This could cost hundreds of dollars in gas expenses! The early bird catches the worm, and gets a better pay back on their family GMP savings by reducing their use of gas, avoiding speeding tickets, and making time to use pedal power. This tip could save your family thousands of dollars over the next year!

5) GreenMySupplies: maybe its time for that trip to your favorite local retailer to stock up on a few things that will make homework more “fun!” or at least tolerable. Make sure you challenge Mom or Dad to invest in the future (of our planet,) while they invest in a few tools to help you pursue your future life, career, etc…. For example make sure that the paper choices you make are getting smarter and more economically informed. Recycling your own paper always makes sense, especially if your family uses a system like RecycleBank to earn rewards for the amount you divert from your local landfill… for green paper choices many of us have been taught to only to look for “recycled” content (which often costs more.) When shopping for paper, look for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC for short) certified papers to use at home and school, which helps ensure the sustainability of the forests used to source the original paper fiber. Nearly every calculator worth using comes in a solar powered model that doesn’t require batteries, and they usually don’t cost more. Skip the electric pencil sharpeners, those are so “old school” (in the wrong sort of way!) It probably wont tax the depth of your math genius to figure out that buying new binders, new binder clips, new folders every semester or even every year is a waste of money, depletes the family GMP fund, and adds plenty of waste to the landfill, not to mention the energy it takes to make that stuff! We hear that many GMP Champions are refusing to buy in to the idea that every thing in their backpack has to be replaced this season, and showing friends how cool it is to make last years stuff… well, last longer!

These are just a few ways to help GreenMyParents Champions save over $100 at home, improve parents sustainability grades, and make Mom & Dad agree that it is easy, fun and profitable to live “Green” together. Look for more ideas here soon… Send us your’s and we’ll try to include them in our next update.

This is the year to partner with Mom to make Father’s Day Great! Moms who are absolutely key to effectively changing habits at home. Mom’s are responsible for buying 85% of things for our homes: 92% of Groceries, and well over 50% of home improvement, consumer electronics, and new vehicle purchases (we learned that from Diane MacEachern, of BigGreenPurse a big supporter of GreenMyParents). So, to save money at home by changing how our family uses food, energy conservation gizmos, or even driving cars that get MPGs that match Mom/Dad’s AGE not their shoe size, you should zero in on Mom! She is crucial.

Here are three tips to save money and the Planet that you can start this Father’s Day:

• Have a waste free-picnic
  Instead of going to a restaurant or getting take-out with single-use containers and plastics, make a zero-waste picnic. Put your sandwiches, salads, cookies and fruit in reusable containers. Put all of it, including cloth napkins and reusable cups and silverware in your reusable lunch bag or cooler. It’s easy and fun to leave NO TRASH behind! Do the same for lunches and see how much you save on single-use plastic bags and wrap!
• Commit to parking the family ride at least 1 trip a week
  Instead of driving somewhere on Father’s Day, pick a local park, museum, or movie theater, and walk or bike there together as a family. You will save money and get mom and dad some much needed exercise. Do this for 1 car-trip every week, and you could save over $100 in a year.
• Plant 1 thing this summer
  Does dad have a favorite spice or vegetable? One bag of tomato seeds costs $1.50, and the yield could save your family over $35. Start small, but maybe 1 family meal a week this summer can have something from your garden.

Share your green strategies to save money at home. Partner with Mom to use GreenMyParents, and you can probably save enough money to take Dad to the NBA finals next Father’s Day, and bring Mom too. Tell the NBA to seed the green economy and help families save money with GreenMyParents.