FRANKFORT, Ky. — First Lady Jane Beshear announced today the inaugural GREEN TEAM Kentucky Online Film Festival this fall – an initiative designed to highlight sustainable environmental practices.

This summer, Mrs. Beshear asked Green Team members to send in their suggestions on how we can inspire, teach and encourage others to take steps to improve our world’s environment. She was especially interested in ideas to involve the youngest generation of Kentuckians, who will inherit these problems if they are not addressed today.

The winning submission, to host an online film festival, was inspired by Syandene Evans, a freshman at Henry Clay High School in Lexington.

“We are very grateful to Syandene for her inspiration, and we look forward to making it become a reality,” stated First Lady Jane Beshear. “It is her generation—the youngest generation of Kentuckians—that will continue to lead us to develop more sustainable practices for our commonwealth, improving our economy and preserving Kentucky’s natural beauty.”

Plans for the film festival are currently in the works, but it is conceived that participants will be asked to submit videos in one of three categories:

• Thirty-second Public Service Announcement that encourages Kentuckians to reduce their energy consumption.
• Short film (less than 10 minutes) that highlights environmentally friendly, energy-savings actions that anyone can and should perform.
• Short film that presents an invention, new device, or new idea that would help reduce energy consumption.

The submitted videos will be posted online at www.greenteam.ky.gov.  People can visit the website, watch the submissions, and vote for their favorites.  The top ten vote-getters in each category will then by judged by a panel of celebrities and noted environmentalists.

Today, Mrs. Beshear has also asked Green Team members to submit their suggestions for the celebrities to serve on the judging panel.  Suggestions can be made at www.greenteam.ky.gov, and all Kentuckians are encouraged to participate and join the Green Team.

On Earth Day, 2008, Mrs. Beshear announced the formation of the GREEN TEAM, a statewide effort joining state officials and everyday citizens with the mission of promoting environmentally friendly and sustainable practices in government and in private homes and businesses.