The Green Building Council of Australia on the Green Lane Diary awards ceremony

One year after our pilot program in QLD, the 2011 Green Lane Diary is in the hands of nearly 30,000 students in over 300 schools across the country. A fantastic result and the feedback from teachers and students is heartwarming.  Look out for Network 10 Toasted TV, which will feature Green Lane Diary Hero segments throughout the term.

This year we are pushing the envelope of multimedia and broadband connections through Green Lane Diary. In addition to weekly TV stories we are doing weekly radio programs and multi-school video conferencing sessions to share ideas and progress.

Green Lane Diary in the Torres Strait
Students from Tagai State College on remote and beautiful Darnley Island have shared their experiences with students across the country on air recently. The students were special guests of the Primary Perspectives radio program, a wonderful initiative of Wonderful World Media Network. The students talked about life on the island and the environmental challenges they face.

Green Lane Diary at the Brisbane Writer's Festival on 8 and 9 September 2011
GCA is hosting a session at this year's BWF as part of the schools' program. 'Diaries that Change the World' is an interactive session for primary students at the State Library in September. In conjunction with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and featuring local Green Lane Diary students, Green Cross will explore the positive impact that keeping a diary can have on living a greener life.

Our 2010 Green Lane Hero
Things have kept on getting more exciting for our 2010 inaugural Green Lane Diary Hero. Last year Nicholas was awarded for his efforts to green his school's tuck shop - including eliminating products with Palm Oil which put orangutans at risk through native forest destruction. Nicholas recently had his dream come true when we arranged for him to meet his hero, the extraordinary Dr Jane Goodall.

The meeting further inspired Nicholas and he immediately embraced Dr Goodall's campaign seeking petition signatures for mandatory palm oil labeling once he left. Way to go Nicholas, the future is in good hands. Watch a video interview with Nicholas here.

"Green Lane Diary has unleashed environmental understanding and action across primary schools" said Green Cross Australia Director of Education Miranda Mason. "From gardens that protect butterflies to orangutan-friendly tuck shops and Barrier Reef waste monitoring programs - these kids are willing to show real leadership in environmental protection" she said.

"Kids are really concerned about the environment," said Ms Mason. "They hear their parents and other adults talking about all of these big problems and they don't understand why they can't do something about it. It's their world too and they really want to be empowered to do something to help it."

The multimedia website supporting this program for parents, teachers and students - www.greenlanediary.org - won the 2010 National Award for Best Education Website in the 2010 Australian Web Awards. This year the site is even more interactive and includes an action tracker where we are quantifying just how many times Diary kids say no to plastic bags, plant a tree or keep the tap off when brushing teeth. So far 1,298 actions have been completed and week one is not over yet! Visit the Diary action tracker here.