Pennies for the Planet

Looking for something to do with kids this Earth Day?  Check out Pennies for the Planet — a powerful tool for motivating kids of all ages to learn about and become engaged in protecting biodiversity.  Our friends at the National Audubon Society, where EDN Education Director Sean Miller was once a Conservation Leadership Fellow with their TogetherGreen program, are running this incredibly exciting program!  P4P kids raise funds for conservation and conduct environmental projects in their own communities. By teaching young people about threatened ecosystems and wildlife, Pennies for the Planet strives to connect young people and families with the environment and provide ideas about how they can help protect it.

Change collected from now through August 2011 will be divided equally among the following three conservation projects:

·         Protecting habitat along Nebraska’s Platte River, a critical nesting and foraging site for majestic Sandhill Cranes, and endangered Whooping Cranes, Least Terns and Piping Plovers.

·         Boosting Monarch butterfly habitat in Arizona so these unique creatures can rest during winter months and reproduce in the spring; and

·         Helping beach-nesting birds along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast combat future breeding challenges from the effects of the recent oil spill, as well as on-going threats from beachgoers and lack of vegetation.

Nearly $58,000 has been raised through Audubon’s Pennies for the Planet in the past two years! Each penny donated is also an Act of Green in partnership with EDN’s global campaign, A Billion Acts of Green®. Over the last decade, in conjunction with several other environmental organizations, Pennies for the Planet has helped tens of thousands of young people nationwide raise thousands of dollars to support species and habitat conservation. Pennies for the Planetmaterials, including a full color poster and educators guide, a newsletter for kids, and a participation form with incentives and awards are available for download from www.penniesfortheplanet.org for classroom or at-home use.