The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection recognized students from 75 classrooms across the state with Green Team Awards for environmental stewardship and educational activities, according to a May 26 announcement.
The Green Team is a statewide program sponsored by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and MassDEP. The program aims to empower students and teachers to take action in their communities to protect the environment through recycling, composting, and sustainability initiatives. During the 2025-2026 school year, 426 Green Teams from 402 schools engaged more than 67,000 students in these efforts.
“Across Massachusetts, students and teachers are stepping up to protect our environment and make a difference in their communities. Climate change is one of our biggest challenges. When young people are involved in climate action, they gain the knowledge, skills, and sense of responsibility needed to make informed decisions and drive change over time,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “Congratulations to all the participating Green Team teachers and students for protecting our environment,” MassDEP Commissioner Bonnie Heiple said. “The Green Team program supports our schools, teachers, and students in taking meaningful action to conserve water and energy, reduce waste, and preserve natural resources. Through this work, students are helping to limit our dependence on landfills and incinerators, advancing energy efficiency, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions – creating lasting environmental benefits for communities across our state.”
Green Team activities ranged from expanding school recycling programs to promoting water conservation. The program integrates science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), reading, writing, art projects as well as other interrelated activities. Seventy-five teams received prizes following a drawing among participants; eight schools won grand prizes while twenty-four were recognized for going “above and beyond” with their sustainability efforts in specific focus areas such as activism or food diversion.
All thirty-two top winners will receive gift cards that can be used either for celebrations or materials supporting further environmental work; additionally, each student in forty-three classes will receive an Earth Day sticker recognizing their contributions this year.
The MassDEP Central Regional Office operates as a division of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection serving seventy-seven towns with approximately nine hundred thousand residents across Worcester County as well as parts of Middlesex and Norfolk counties; it provides regulatory oversight—including safeguarding major river basins—compliance assistance for local communities while advancing public access to environmental information, according to the official website.
