PGC in 10 Steps
1. Ready, set, GO! At 6am Pacific Time (PT) on October 1, the first challenge will go live on the website: projectgreenchallenge.com. This will happen every day at 6am PT through October 30!
2. Each challenge will be live for 24 hours from 6am PT to 5:59am PT the following day. Once that 24-hour period is over, no additional submissions will be accepted.
3. You will receive an email with the link every morning. Follow the link to that day’s challenge or go directly to the website. Read through, as some challenges require day-long actions or foresight. Browse the overview, video, infographic, and TED Talk to become acquainted with the theme. Play the Song of the Day for motivation and further inspiration!
4. Log in to start the day’s challenge. If you are on a team, team members must all use the same team login. There are 3 levels of challenges each day and an occasional extra credit challenge. The first level is Green. Read the Green Challenge and prepare requested deliverables. Follow Submission Guidelines on each challenge. Submit by clicking the upload button at the bottom of the page. You must be logged in to see the upload button. Remembering to log in is the most common troubleshooting solution!
5. Repeat Step 4 for each remaining challenge level you wish to complete. You must complete challenges in the following order: Green, Greener, Greenest. You cannot submit a higher challenge level until you have submitted the prior level each day — meaning you must submit Green before you can submit Greener, and Green and Greener before Greenest.
6. Extra Credit challenges offer more time for completion, as do some Greenest levels. The deadline will be in challenge instructions. You must complete Green, Greener and Greenest for a particular day before you can upload Extra Credit. Extra Credits are worth more points, also noted in the text.
7. After uploading deliverables, you can view your score by going to Edit Profile on the bottom navigation bar. For each challenge completed, you will receive points: Green 20, Greener 40, Greenest 60. Extra credit points vary and are awarded later, based on challenge instructions.
8. Prizes are awarded each day. Up to 10 Greener and 10 Greenest outstanding submissions will be chosen as daily winners and receive fabulous prizes mailed to your door! The Winners page is updated daily.
9. If selected as a winner, you will receive an email from PGC informing you and requesting a mailing address. Prizes can only be shipped in the United States. Students outside of the US may have prizes delivered to an address of family or friends within the US.
10. Complete as many days and challenges as possible, though you are not required to submit every day or every level to remain in PGC and/or be eligible for prizes or the PGC Finals. Earn points, win prizes, gain valuable knowledge, and change the world together!
Self-care: If at any point for any reason, you need a break, take a day or two off from PGC — or simply do the Green level of challenges for a bit. The great thing about this program is that you don’t have to participate every day. Whatever time and energy you are able to spend on PGC will be informative, inspiring and rewarding!
PGC Finals: At the end of the 30 days, up to 14 PGC Finalists are selected to attend the PGC Finals — outstanding young leaders from around the world chosen from the global pool of PGC participants based on points, depth and breadth of engagement, number of challenge wins, quality of work, a final exam, and video recap of their 30-day journey. The PGC Finals take place in San Francisco, California in November — a transformational, all-expenses-paid eco summit that brings together like-minded peers with an esteemed group of eco leaders, speakers, mentors, ambassadors and partners to support, equip and propel Finalists with the tools, resources and know-how to rise as leaders. Content covers a multitude of topics to deepen changemaking capacity on campuses and across communities, providing an opportunity for students to share experiences, learnings, best practices and ideas and gain insight, perspective and skills to further their activism. Each Finalist presents about their PGC experience and CAP to an audience, including a panel of judges. CAP seed funding is given in tiered awards. Finalists then continue to develop, build, refine and implement CAPs in partnership with a team of mentors from December through April of the following year, which they present virtually upon completion at the PGC Finals — Part 2 in late April. On that day, judges name the PGC Champion and present the $5,000 Green Award and grand prize package.
Zero tolerance for plagiarism! PGC helps students worldwide cultivate unique voices for change. While we understand that you have many commitments, PGC only accepts original work produced solely by the official participant or team members. Project Green Challenge has a zero tolerance policy for work that has been plagiarized or is otherwise not original. This includes submissions that excerpt heavily from other sources, but fail to include proper citations. Participants who plagiarize or submit work that is not entirely their own will be disqualified from PGC without warning. Turning Green reserves the right to determine whether a submission is dishonest and may disqualify any participant at any point as a result. If you feel uninspired, unsure or tired, simply take a break. The competition is designed to reward outstanding work, not solely the highest points. Submitting original work is always in your favor. When wondering whether something qualifies as “original,” ask yourself: would you submit this in a class? Schools have strict and explicit academic honesty policies. Chances are, if your work fits within your school’s policy, it is acceptable for PGC. Read more about our Zero Tolerance Policy here.
Rules: Your participation in PGC confirms acceptance of these rules. If you have any questions, please email info@turninggreen.org.
And so it begins! Thank YOU for participating in what is sure to be an incredible journey! Our team and fellow participants are here to respond, support, cheer you on, and be inspired by everything you accomplish. For beautiful examples and inspiration, browse the @TurningGreenOrg Instagram. Breathe — and get ready to dream and do! Here’s to YOU!
