Environmental torch passes to new generation at RETHINK: GREEN event (slideshow)

Environmental torch passes to new generation at RETHINK: GREEN event (slideshow)

As students of the Los Angeles area Environmental Charter School handed out ”Green Ambassador” awards to local environmental leaders at the RETHINK: GREEN event last Saturday night in Culver City, California, attendees were reminded of the Biblical line “a little child shall lead them.” Or, perhaps more appropriately given the locale, some event goers might have been thinking of the Star Trek television episode “And the Children Shall Lead”.   Either way, RETHINK: GREEN, a charity event benefiting Environmental Charter Schools and their Green Ambassadors Institute, emphasized the next and future generations of environmental leaders.

RETHINK: GREEN was an indoor-outdoor multi-media event featuring art exhibits, live music, green awards, food and drink tasting, silent auctions, a “green carpet” entrance for celebrities, and more.  Inside the Blackwelder warehouse studio creative space, guests could bid on a one-of-a-kind painting on wood by local art hero Shepard Fairey while sipping on wine from the nearby BottleRock wine bar.  Outside, event goers could sample food from Green Truck before getting a 5-minute tarot card session in the back seat of a Lexus hybrid courtesy of local sponsor LAcarGUY.  In case people were still stressed out, they could wander over to the VIP lounge for free foot massage or manicure.  The event itself was billed as “eco-friendly, low waste and environmentally sound,” making use of solar hybrid generators and manned recycling stations.

Environmental Charter Schools (“ECS”), the beneficiary of the RETHINK: GREEN event, operates the Environmental Charter High School (“ECHS”) and the Environmental Charter Middle School, both in the Los Angeles area.  ECS uses a rigorous college-prep curriculum, including extensive field trips and “hands-on” learning in the local community.  The result is a whopping college attendance rate of well over 90 percent for ECHS grads. Launched through ECS, Green Ambassadors Institute provides an award-winning green curriculum program to under-served schools in California, with plans to expand nationwide. 

Appropriately, actor Ed Begley, Jr., one of the pioneers of the current “second wave” environmental movement, was on hand to support those in the next generation, and the one beyond that, who have picked up his mantle. Indeed, the highlight of the evening was the presentation, both live and on video, by a bunch of the ECHS students.  Dressed in festive clothes, the kids wowed the audience with their articulate and enthusiastic presentations of Green Ambassador awards to local environmental leaders, including Mark Gold, President of Heal the Bay and Matt Petersen, President of Global Green USA, a partner of the Green Ambassador Institute.  Many attendees no doubt left the RETHINK: GREEN event feeling that our environmental future is in good hands.