U.S. Classrooms With Most Impressive Conservation Recommendations Selected as Finalists in P&G Future Friendly, National Geographic Contest

CINCINNATI, Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- P&G Future Friendly and the National Geographic Society today announced the finalists of the Find Your Footprint  national school conservation education contest. The public is invited to vote for the entry that has the most meaningful environmental impact. The top six entries are posted online at www.nationalgeographic.com/findyourfootprint, where the public can vote for the grand-prize winner. Voting is open now through March 16, 2011. The classroom that receives the highest number of public votes will be the grand-prize winner and will receive $36,000 in educational resources.

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The Find Your Footprint program was developed to inspire students to monitor and reduce their environmental footprint. Numerous U.S. elementary school classrooms submitted video, photo and essay proposals in late 2010 detailing how they would track and reduce their energy, waste or water footprint in their schools or local communities. The entries were evaluated by a panel of judges from P&G and National Geographic, including Emerging Explorer Mireya Mayor,  based on meaningful environmental reductions, creativity and editorial quality of the submission, and then narrowed down to six.  

"As an explorer, I've witnessed firsthand the positive effects that the many simple acts of conservation we take every day can make on the most breathtaking corners of the world, places I hope we can preserve for our children and for generations after them," said Dr. Mireya Mayor, author of the upcoming book Pink Boots and a Machete. "I am very proud of the Find Your Footprint entries, both in the creative magnitude of the ideas from these students, and in their inspiring grasp of their environmental impact on the world around them."

In no particular order, the Find Your Footprint finalists are:

• Waste-Free Fridays, Gill Elementary, Farmington Hills, MI, 4th grade Click here for video
• Helping the World and Saving Our Future, Walker Elementary, Springdale, AR, 2nd grade Click here for video
• Saving Water 101, Robert Fulton School, Brooklyn, NY Click here for video
• Let's Be Green When It's Time to Clean, Dryden Elementary, Arlington Heights, IL, 5th grade Click here for video
• Canceling Catalogs: A Documentary, The Park School, Brookline, MA, 4th grade Click here for video
• Plastic Waste Reduction to Save Our Oceans!, Rutledge Hall, Lincolnwood, IL, 5th grade Click here for video

The winning classroom will claim a grand prize valued at $36,000 for their school, to include: five Promethean interactive digital whiteboards   (ActivBoards), five sets of Promethean Learner Response Systems (ActivExpressions), 30 free subscriptions to National Geographic Kids magazine and up to $1,000 in National Geographic educational materials. The grand-prize winner will be announced in April 2011 and celebrated with a school assembly. Best practices gathered from all entries will also be featured on Future Friendly's Facebook page, as well as the Find Your Footprint hub at www.nationalgeographic.com/findyourfootprint.

The multimedia Find Your Footprint program focuses on ways students could save energy, save water or reduce waste. As part of the contest, an estimated 475,000 classrooms nationwide were introduced to custom National Geographic conservation education curriculum – including a Teacher's Guide and a student-focused Waste Detectives activity, which guides students in reducing waste. More information can be found at www.nationalgeographic.com/findyourfootprint.

About P&G Future Friendly

P&G Future Friendly is a program that empowers consumers to save energy, save water and reduce waste, using science, innovation and unique partnerships to achieve meaningful environmental impacts. The P&G Future Friendly program is a direct extension of P&G's long-term commitment and disciplined, science-based approach to environmental sustainability. Through the program, P&G is better able to share these solutions with consumers so they can realize the benefits in their own homes. Sustainability is core to P&G's Purpose to Touch and Improve the Lives of the Worlds' Consumers, now and for generations to come.

About Procter & Gamble

Four billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Gain®, Pringles®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, Braun® and Fusion®. The P&G community includes approximately 127,000 employees working in about 80 countries worldwide. Please visit www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands. For more information on P&G's commitment to sustainability, visit: www.pg.com/sustainability.

About National Geographic Society

The National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to "increase and diffuse geographic knowledge," the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. National Geographic reflects the world through its magazines, television programs, films, music and radio, books, DVDs, maps, exhibitions, live events, school publishing programs, interactive media and merchandise. National Geographic magazine, the Society's official journal, published in English and 33 local-language editions, is read by more than 40 million people each month. The National Geographic Channel reaches 370 million households in 34 languages in 168 countries. National Geographic Digital Media receives more than 15 million visitors a month. National Geographic has funded more than 9,600 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program promoting geography literacy. For more information, visit www.nationalgeographic.com.

About Promethean - Lighting the flame of learning

Promethean is a global education company committed to supporting teaching and learning. Our focus is on student centered and collaborative learning. We do this through our integrated technology, training, content and assessment solutions that help teachers meet individual student needs. Our products are used in more than 500,000 classrooms around the world, and PrometheanPlanet.com, the world's largest interactive whiteboard community site, provides its almost one million members access to around 23,000 free teaching resources. With corporate headquarters in the U.K. and U.S., Promethean has offices in nine countries and is listed on the London Stock Exchange as Promethean World Plc (ticker symbol 'PRW'). www.PrometheanWorld.com

SOURCE The Procter & Gamble Company