In an effort to advance recycling and environmental sustainability, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker joined the Sanitation Department and Office of Clean and Green to celebrate 32 Philadelphia schools leading hands-on efforts to reduce waste, improve neighborhood environments, and build a more sustainable future through the Green Schools Program.    

Through the Green Schools Program, public, charter, independent, and parochial schools received grants of up to $2,500 to launch projects such as school gardens, composting systems, and recycling initiatives. This year, more than $75,000 supported student-led efforts that are reducing waste and bringing sustainability practices into classrooms, homes, and neighborhoods across the city.   

This program allows us to invest in our children and let them know we see you and believe in your ideas that you conceived for yourselves and future generations. By investing in each school, we are encouraging our students to be creative, innovative, and unique with projects that benefit recycling, the environment, and our city. The Green Schools Program inspires great ideas and is proof that recycling and sustainability can be a part of our everyday life even in schools. 

Green Schools Program provides educational opportunities for students to be environmental stewards who lead efforts not just in their schools, but they can take back what they learn by way of these projects and demonstrate sustainable practices in their homes and neighborhoods.