Hawaii Preparatory Academy juniors Jessie Ainslie, Ari Datta, Tori Greco-Hiranaka and Leila Morrison recently were named finalists in the Project Green Challenge. Their team placed 10th among 3,000 high school and college teams in a program that raises environmental awareness worldwide.
The competition consists of 30 challenges in 30 days, each with four levels of engagement — green, greener, greenest and extra credit. Each day features a different theme, such as food, fitness and technology. Participants upload their responses on the PGC website for judging and scoring. Challenges include applying for grants, organizing clothing drives and ranking the “greenness” of household products
One of the goals of Project Green Challenge is to increase each participant’s environmental awareness, leading to a greener lifestyle. The HPA team began with an advantage because of the school’s focus on sustainability.
“Our school is already leaps and bounds ahead of being environmentally conscious,” Ainslie said. “The school really goes above and beyond to support you in all your projects.”
Ainslie said that after Project Green Challenge, “thinking about the environment has really become second nature. ”