Thursday, October 16, 2008

North Richland Hills eco-teens launch Junk to Funk Fashion Show

By Pegasus News wire

North Richland Hills' new program that reaches out to young environmentalists called Green Teens is launching a whole week of eco-efforts at Birdville High School. The week, called Brighten up Birdville, will take place from October 20-October 24 and will include a From Junk to Funk recycled fashion show, a class recycling contest and a Go Green booth at the Friday night Birdville football game.

The From Junk to Funk recycled fashion show will take place on October 23 at the Birdville High School pep rally. Green Teens encouraged all Birdville High students to use plastic shopping bags, broken CDs and any other paper, aluminum or plastic materials to make a complete outfit and be a part of the fashion show. A panel of celebrity Birdville High judges will decide the winner based on creativity, style, and how they present themselves in their recycled outfits. The winner will receive a totally green sash, crown and a bag of green goodies. These items might have been headed to the recycling bin, but at Birdville High the Green Teens are thinking “catwalk”. See the video on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdu9M0rj6ds

Brighten Up Birdville week will also include a class recycling contest that pairs the Seniors with the Freshman and the Juniors with the Sophomores in a contest to see which team can collect the most recyclable items. Every bag of paper recyclables will be exchanged for a colored ribbon students can display on their backpacks. The winning team will have a free hat day on October 24, and the person in each class who collects the most recyclable goods will receive a bag of green goodies. To advertise the contest, the Green Teens are using a YouTube video and podcasts.

A final culmination of the Green Teens Brighten Up Birdville week will be at the Birdville High School football game at home on Friday at 7:30 p.m. At the game the cheerleaders will be throwing Green Teens reusable grocery bags to the crowd and a Go Green booth will be set up to educate all ages on living greener lives. Students can take a Reusable Bag pledge from Green Teens and receive a green bag.

Green Teens is a program that allows teens to educate their peers, as well as their community, on ways to live greener lives. The program includes educational and practical components that facilitate long-term, positive changes in attitudes concerning waste prevention, reduction, reuse, and recycling. Green Teens is a partnership between the City of North Richland Hills Cultural Arts Division and BISD. Green Teens is funded from a solid waste grant from the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG). This year, 55 students have signed up to be a part of Green Teens.

The Green Teens benefit the community in multiple capacities such as targeting the teen demographic, allowing the participants to have ownership in the program, educating the community on environmental issues, building a sense of community, and implementing environmentally-friendly practices into their daily lives.

Source: North Richland Hills Parks & Rec

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