Q. How does GSFG help girls become leaders who take action for the planet?

A. Journeys are the core for leadership development, badges for skill development, and GSFG for global environmental impact.

1. First, girls select the It’s Your Planet—Love It!  Journeyappropriate to their grade level. Girls will explore issues such as water, air quality, energy, food and land use, and environmental justice. They’ll have fun, earn awards, and take on projects that protect our earth. Volunteers should use the adult guide to facilitate the Journey with girls. Check out the Ties to the Girl Scouts' national program portfolio with some specific ideas for girls and volunteers incorporating each of the GSFG projects into the It’s Your Planet—Love It! Leadership Journey experiences.
2. Then, girls add The Girls Guide to Girl Scouting to their program portfolio—a new and exciting handbook and badge program. In these books, girls from each grade level can choose legacy badges (like the Junior badge, “Flowers”) girls have always loved earning and skill building badges (such as the Junior badge, “Gardener”) that help girls develop skills that will enable them to protect our planet.
3. Finally, girls are encouraged to integrate the Girl Scouts Forever Green by choosing a project to Reduce Waste, Save Energy, or Plant Rain Gardens and by taking the online Pledge as they complete their Journey.
   
   When girls take the Pledge they choose to take action in their daily lives—such as planting a tree or turning off lights—to help save water, energy, and CO2. When girls, volunteers, and councils use the website to record their project results and take the pledge, the impact adds up. See the total impact page for yourself.

As with all Girl Scout activities, Girl Scouts Forever Green gives girls the opportunity to develop leadership skills they can use now and throughout their lives. GSFG projects and goals are also well aligned with the It's Your Planet—Love It! leadership journey series. In addition to creating positive environmental impact, girls will also climb the GSUSA leadership ladder and earn their way to a journey's prestigious awards.

When girls do a project like GSFG as part of their Leadership Journey experience, they make progress toward the achievement of specific leadership outcomes tied to journey activities. These activities help them Discover themselves and their values, Connect with others locally and globally, and Take Action to make the world a better place. And, certain outcomes are developed more fully when girls do a Take Action project inspired by their participation in Girl Scouts Forever Green!

Girls can keep the change spurred by their GSFG project going by creating sustainable and long-lasting solutions for reducing plastic waste, increasing energy efficiency, or saving water—or even better, all three! The opportunities here are endless. For example, when girls develop a Take Action plan to create a permanent community rain garden and monitor the ongoing positive environmental change as well as effects on the community, they have become resourceful problem solvers. Or, girls can create ways to educate and inspire others to sustain Earth Hour's energy-reduction efforts on a regular basis—then the collective change moves from symbolic to effective. Girls can also choose to advocate locally and globally for the use of reusable bags and bottles. Through public speaking opportunities, posters, e-mail campaigns, and other efforts, they can keep the reduction of plastic waste going well beyond a month's time.