On October 21, Oscar the Grouch � the world�s favourite curmudgeon � joined a host of other Canadian celebrities to officially launch One Million Acts of Green.

Spearheaded by the popular talk show, The Hour, this initiative is about encouraging each individual in the country to perform one act of green. The goal is to change how we live and how we treat our planet, one act at a time. It�s about planting a tree, using recycled paper, or carpooling.

We know our students and teachers are incredibly imaginative when it comes to projects that help our environment. There are many initiatives already underway throughout the province. We have schools that are composting and cleaning up our beaches. Others take care of salmon eggs for eventual release into the wild. Some schools in the province have started recycling businesses called Think Green, a program designed by Memorial University�s award-winning SIFE team.

Examples can be found at almost every turn. One of our high schools competed in an envirothon in the US last year. In the nation-wide Phones for Food High School Challenge, St. John�s collected more cell phones than the city of Toronto. An elementary school on the west coast initiated a non-idling program at their school. These are just a few examples of the great things our students and teachers are doing to support the environment.

One Million Acts of Green is an excellent vehicle to acknowledge the wonderful acts already happening in schools across the province and there are schools that have already taken up the challenge. I would love to list them all, but as one example, �cole Bor�al in Happy Valley-Goose Bay has begun distributing recycling bins.

To date, more than 400,000 acts of green have been recorded across the country. People are picking up garbage, biking to work or school, and using refillable drinking cups. I know we can see this number grow through the many activities already taking place in our schools on a daily basis. And I know our students will come up with some great ideas to inspire real change in a practical way.

I encourage all schools to get involved in this project. It is a great opportunity to inspire our students to be creative, to work together as a team, and to demonstrate to the rest of the country the leadership, commitment and knowledge of students across Newfoundland and Labrador.