Children's book publisher Scholastic Inc. has announced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in the JK Rowling series will be forest-friendly, thanks to a new partnership with the Rainforest Alliance. The Rainforest Alliance has helped Scholastic to purchase the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper that will be used in printing the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, which is to be released in July.

Scholastic has committed to making sure that 65 percent of the 16,700 tons of paper used in the book's first United States print run is FSC-certified. FSC-certified paper comes from forestlands that are managed in a socially and environmentally responsible way; the Rainforest Alliance is the leading FSC certifier.

Send a thank you note to Scholastic and let them know they are doing a great job to help protect forests.

Read more about Scholastic's commitment to sustainability and spread the word to other Harry Potter fans.

This Earth Day, inspire your students to improve the environment. Here are some suggestions for how you and your class can protect rainforests and the people and wildlife that depend on them.

• Ask your school to purchase environmentally friendly paper. Use paper that has a Forest Stewardship Council/Rainforest Alliance Certified label to ensure that your paper is from responsibly managed forests. You can also help by buying only recycled paper.
• At the supermarket, choose foods that are Rainforest Alliance Certified. Buy chocolate, bananas, and coffee that are safe and healthy for the environment and workers.
• Buy wood products certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Look for our FSC/Rainforest Alliance Certified label to ensure that product has been harvested in a way that promotes healthy forests and just conditions for workers and their communities.
• When vacationing, be a savvy traveler and support tourism that directly benefits the environment and communities you visit.
• Thank the companies and farmers working with the Rainforest Alliance. They are protecting the world's forests so we can all enjoy them in the future. Chiquita, Gibson Guitar, and Vintage Chocolates are among the many businesses that sell Rainforest Alliance Certified sustainable products. Write to the companies and tell them they're doing a great job!
• Organize a local fundraising event. Bring together neighbors, family and friends for a "Rainforest Run" or a "Rainforest Rummage Sale" and donate the proceeds to an organization that is conserving rainforests.
• Contribute to our Adopt-A-Rainforest program and aid small conservation groups based in tropical countries that are working to stop rainforest destruction.
• Become a member of the Rainforest Alliance! Join our family and receive a great newsletter, free gifts and the rewarding feeling that comes with knowing you are helping us do important work.

Do you have another idea? Tell us how your class got involved in helping to protect the Earth.

Share this special kids version of our "what you can do" list with your students.

Bethany Reed (l) and Maria Ghiso, education associate for the Rainforest Alliance

Here at the Rainforest Alliance we are always inspired by young people who want to help make a difference in the environment and protect ecosystems around the world. Recently, we met 14-year old, Bethany Reed, a committed supporter of our Adopt-A-Rainforest Program. For the past three years, she has held a fundraiser for her birthday, asking her friends and family to donate money instead of buying her gifts. We sat down with Bethany and asked her a few questions about her philanthropic birthdays.

How did you hear about the Rainforest Alliance? When I first heard about rainforests, I decided that I needed to do something to help protect them. For the last three years I have asked people to help by donating money at my birthday parties. Every year I keep getting a little more.

What do your friends think about this? That it's pretty cool -- some of them have even followed my lead. One of my friends is really interested in animals, so she decided to ask for donations for her birthday. It's catching on.

Do you have any advice for other kids who want to help make a difference? Get to know other people, find out what things you are interested in and work on it together. That makes it more fun.

Read the rest of Bethany's interview to find out how she became interested in helping rainforests.

Discover what other kids have done to help Adopt-A-Rainforest.

National Environmental Education week, April 15 - 22, 2007, is designed to increase the educational impact of Earth Day by creating a full week of activities to involve K-12^th grade students around the country. The activities are a great complement to the resources found on the Rainforest Alliance Learning Site, which are designed to connect students to their local environment and ecosystems around the world.

Project Learning Tree (PLT) is sponsoring GreenWorks! grants to help link classroom learning with community action initiatives. GreenWorks! projects should address an environmental issue and involve students (from preschool to high school) in hands-on, service-learning projects within their communities. Grants are available for $250 to $5,000. Applicants must have received PLT training. Deadline for project submissions is April 30, 2007.

Middle school students are eligible to participate in an Earth Day photo contest, sponsored by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). During the Earth Day week, April 15 - 20, students in grades 5 - 8 take a photograph of something that is changing in their local environment and write a scientific explanation (400 words or less) of their observation. Winning entries will receive a cash prize and will be published on the IGES Web site. The deadline to submit a photograph is May 9, 2007.

A program of the Earth Island Institute, the annual Brower Youth Award acknowledges six young leaders (ages 13 - 22) for their work in environmental and social justice activism. Winners will receive a $3,000 cash prize, a trip to California to attend the award ceremony and a camping trip, as well as access to the resources at Earth Island Institute and opportunities to develop their leadership skills through Earth Island Institute's New Leaders Initiative. Deadline for applying is May 15, 2007.

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© 2007 Rainforest Alliance