Community Partner Spotlight: Turning Green

Based in Sausalito, Turning Green began as Teens for Safe Cosmetics, a campaign that opposed hazardous chemicals in beauty and personal care products. Executive Director Judi Shils, who founded Search for the Cause in 2002 to probe into Marin County’s skyrocketing cancer rates, and her daughter, then 13-year-old Erin Schrode, began organizing meetings with local students.

What started as a grassroots effort around their kitchen table soon evolved into chapters throughout middle and high schools in the Bay Area. As the campaign grew in size and scope, the organization’s work began reaching outside the realm of cosmetics, and into all aspects of an eco-conscious lifestyle, from fashion to food, school campuses to dorm rooms, start to graduation.

Over the years, Turning Green has touched hundreds of thousands through their programs and advocacy campaigns, empowering students worldwide to investigate the impact of their actions, develop tangible solutions, and create meaningful change.
Project Green Challenge

Turning Green has developed a number of programs to help support students in making the shift from conventional to conscious, one of which is their Project Green Challenge. This powerful and diverse call to action features 30 days of environmentally-themed challenges to help inform, inspire, and mobilize high school, college, and grad school students. From fashion to food waste, the challenge addresses a number of key climate issues, and uses social media and a gamified digital platform to connect like-minded peer leaders and help students develop climate action proposals for campuses. Over 6,000 students in 56 countries participated in last year’s challenge!

This year’s challenge begins on October 1st, and you’re invited to participate. Sign up at projectgreenchallenge.com and encourage students in your life to do the same. Project Green Challenge finalists will be flown to San Francisco to attend a 3-day eco-summit, including a tour at Good Earth.

Back-to-School Checklist

Good Earth and Turning Green have a long history together, and this year, we’re teaming up to help students start the school year right. Turning Green has curated a checklist of back-to-school essentials, all available at Good Earth. Guided by our shared values of advocating for a healthy, just, and resilient future, the list features some of our favorite conscious products, including a number of Organic, Non-GMO Project Verified, local, and Fair Trade offerings from departments throughout the store. The list serves as a simple way for us to vote with our dollars, and shift behavior to support brands that champion environmental and human health. Look for the list in-store, and online.

Vendor Partners

In addition to Good Earth’s support of Turning Green, a number of our vendor partners are also engaged in the organization’s work including Acure, Dr. Bronner’s and Everyone – all available in our Wellness department, and Klean Kanteen, available in our Housewares department.