Charity begins at home, so the saying goes. It’s also where lessons about being green begins, with those little steps serving as the beginning of long-range and lifelong energy-saving practices that will impact generations to come.

For some 2,000 Manteca Unified sixth graders, those innovative green practices will either begin or continue today when the annual Planet Party Day will be held on the campus of the school district office.

At this year’s learning party will be a UA Sustainable Technology Training Trailer where the students will see a display of common items that they use every day at home – faucets, toilets, heating and cooling systems, and a washing machine. From these displays, the students will learn about the many ways they can conserve energy and water in their daily usage of these utilities at home.

That’s just one of the many green innovations that the eighth graders will be learning at the Planet Party. They will also be learning about how to maintain clean air and water, energy conservation, agriculture, and the latest on state-of-the-art recycling practices. The object is to teach the students how to become environmental stewards of the future.

The learning experiences will be provided by more than two-dozen exhibitors and presenters – South San Joaquin Irrigation District, PT&E, Shred-It, J.R. Simplot, Valley Clean Air Now, the cities of Manteca and Lathrop, Home Depot, Cal Waterfowl, the California Department of Fish and Game, California EPA, and iecRenewables, to name a few.

Students will be bused to the school district campus in groups throughout the day.

Planet Party Day co-chairpersons are MUSD L.O.G.I.C. Sustainability Coordinator Victoria Brunn, and MUSD Nutrition Services Director Patty Page.