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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- At Skyway Elementary first grade students excitedly dug through their green packs -- eco-friendly bags filled with re-usable items such as a water bottle and plastic containers.

It was the kickoff to National Green Week.

"National Green Week is the first of its kind, a national education campaign, and our goal is one million kids, an army of green-keepers we are calling them, and we want to mobilize these kids to make a difference," said Leslie Castle, program director.

Castle helped motivate the students. She said this week Skyway is going to measure the snack waste they go through.

"Then next week they are going to start using their green tools, their snack containers and water bottles, and eliminate bringing in juice boxes and individually wrapped snacks," Castle said.

She said the hope is the re-usable items will reduce waste and added the school will also push for recycling. It plans on teaching students the importance of keeping the planet clean.

"You can reuse a lot of things, and even though recycling does not create more stuff and does not fill up land-fills, it still requires energy," sixth grader Dane said.

"It is important because we want to save our planet where there is not polluting, especially for our generation because we have to live in it and we do not want it to be all messed up," sixth grader Dani said.

Castle said many of the students are already going green at home and in school. She said people do not have to install solar panels or buy a hybrid to change the world.

"It is simple little things that we can all do, and you multiply that by hundreds of thousands and that will make a difference," Castle said.

National Green Week runs February second through Earth Day.

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