Our Mission
Founded in 2006, the mission of TeachingGreen is to enable a sustainable future for life on Earth through comprehensive and empowering environmental education for all.
What is TeachingGreen?
TeachingGreen is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing environmental education for people of all ages and interests. Our mission is guided by three main 
goals:
- Raise awareness about our most serious environmental problems, both local and global
- Encourage people to consider the environmental impact of their day-to-day activities
- Help people adopt a lifestyle that sustains, rather than depletes, Earth’s natural resources
Whether you’re an elementary school teacher looking for a presentation on global warming, an individual looking to live a greener lifestyle, or a group seeking to green your office, church, club, etc., we can help. We offer sustainable living workshops for adults and classroom presentations for elementary, middle school and high school students. Just let us know which topics you are interested in, and we will customize a workshop or presentation for you.
The Green Life: Workshops for Adults
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” ~Native American Proverb
Are you interested in:
- Saving money?
- Conserving resources for future generations?
- Simplifying your life?
- Improving your health and that of your community?
- Reducing dependence on unstable countries?
- Protecting wildlife and the habitats they depend on for survival?
- Meeting new people with similar interests?
Each of these (and more) is an unavoidable side-effect of living an eco-friendly lifestyle. For example, just one action, reducing gasoline consumption, whether by driving less or choosing a higher gas mileage vehicle, will accomplish #1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 (by eliminating the need for more drilling). There isn’t one eco-friendly act, in fact, that won’t result in at least one of these consequential effects.
If you are interested in greening your lifestyle, but worry that you can’t be effective because you:
- lack knowledge about the problems and their solutions,
- have feelings of apathy, inertia, or hopelessness about the environment,
- believe that living green is too expensive or too inconvenient…
You are not alone! Polls show that while most people are willing to make changes to their lifestyle to help the environment (94% according to an April 2007 poll conducted by 20/20), few are actually doing so. In addition to the reasons listed above, the exponential growth in environment-related news we’ve experienced over the past year or two and the endless lists of “Things You Can Do to Save the Earth” can have a paralyzing effect. What to do first: change your light bulbs or get a tune-up for your car? Search for farmers markets in your area or plant a drought-tolerant garden?
We sort through all the news and the lists so that you don’t have to. Using scientifically-backed information from the most respected sources in the field, we look at the causes and effects of air pollution, climate change, habitat alteration and water pollution, and present the facts you need to know about these complex topics, so that you’ll understand the problems and their solutions. We present the information in an easy-to-understand fashion that focuses on what can be done from this point forward, not what “should have been done, had we only cared enough.” And of course, we provide a list of resources on a wide range of topics to help you put your new knowledge into practice. The result is practical, comprehensive environmental education for adults looking to live a more sustainable life. TeachingGreen helps people make the changes that really make a difference.
If you are ready to turn your CONCERN about the environment into ACTION, give us a call today!
Growing Up Green: Presentations for Kids
Grades K - 8: Coming Soon!
When it comes to protecting the environment, no one has more to lose than those who will inherit the planet that we leave behind: our children. We believe that children understand this and want a healthy environment for themselves and the wildlife that they love. Building on this desire, we educate children about the many ways that we depend on natural systems, as well as the many ways that we alter these systems. We also emphasize that natural systems are all connected and that when human activity affects one natural system, others are affected as well. The result is engaging, comprehensive environmental education to help our children become thoughtful, responsible consumers.
Grades 9 - 12
With the high school audience, we focus on the environmental impacts of consumer behavior. Specifically, we look at just how the choices we make in the areas of transportation, food, home & garden, solid waste and household toxics affect the environment.
With the high school audience, we focus on the environmental impacts of consumer behavior. Specifically, we look at just how the choices we make in the areas of transportation, food, home & garden, solid waste and household toxics affect the environment.
As budding consumers, teenagers represent the perfect audience for these presentations because they are just beginning to make consumer decisions on their own. The goal is to plant the seeds of knowledge now so that down the road, when it's time to buy a car or a home, the enviromental impacts of these major purchases will be considered. In the meantime, students will be encouraged to reduce the impacts of their day-to-day activities and purchases, with the overall goal being that they will adopt a more sustainable lifestyle that will be passed on to their children and grandchildren.
Who is TeachingGreen?
Kathleen Jacecko, Founder
Kathleen was raised in a household with one cardinal rule: conserve energy and water under all circumstances. These lessons in conservation, along with regular camping trips to Yosemite and other wild places in central and northern California, formed the foundation of Kathleen’s passion for protecting and restoring planet Earth and its many natural resources that are so fundamental to our way of life.
Kathleen holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Chemistry and a teaching credential from the University of California, Irvine. While an undergraduate student, she worked in the research lab of atmospheric chemist F. Sherwood Rowland, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his discovery that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were depleting Earth’s protective ozone layer. Collecting air samples and analyzing them using gas chromatography, Kathleen gained firsthand knowledge about the detrimental effects of human activity on our air quality, and thus our lives.
Fresh out of college in 1996, Kathleen worked as an Associate Producer making educational software products. After three years of corporate life, she decided to put her passion for education to good use and became a teacher at Redondo Union High School, where she taught physics and physical science, and incorporated environmental issues into her lessons whenever possible. Then in 2003, she left teaching to pursue a full-time career in the environmental field, a path which eventually led her to found TeachingGreen.
Before securing full-time work in the field, Kathleen volunteered with Algalita Marine Research Foundation and Heal the Bay, two local non-profit organizations working on water quality issues. She assisted Algalita with a study of industrial sources of plastic in the ocean, and as a member Heal the Bay’s Speakers Bureau, she educated children and adults about ocean pollution. She then went on to work for the Ballona Wetlands Land Trust and Santa Monica Baykeeper, where as Public Outreach Director, she developed, funded and ran the Clean Water Act: Empower the People Program. Through this program, she educated hundreds of Los Angeles residents about the Clean Water Act and the importance of citizen enforcement of this powerful but often unenforced law.
Now, as Executive Director of TeachingGreen, the non-profit organization she founded in 2006, she is devoted to bringing comprehensive and inspiring environmental education to the public to help individuals and communities live lighter on the Earth.
Board of Directors
President
Kathleen Jacecko, M.S.
Executive Director, TeachingGreen
Secretary
Laura Bodensteiner, M.S.
Marine Biologist
Laura currently serves as Chair of the Green Committee for the Mar Vista Community Council. She is also co-owner of Tickled Plum, an online boutique specializing in custom handcrafted stationery.
Treasurer
Michael M. Landman-Karny, M.B.A.
Sr. Finance Manager, Experian Inc.
Michael brings to TeachingGreen 18 years of accounting and finance experience.
Advisory Board
Jim Aldinger
City Councilman, Manhattan Beach
Lilian Light
Board President, Environmental Priorities Network
Gary Poe
Executive Director, Windows-On-Our-Waters
Vanessa Poster
Board President, Beach Cities Health District
Dr. Alice Villalobos
Founder of Coast Pet Clinic of Hermosa Beach, Inc
