Earth Day Network announced that its Billion Acts of Green® campaign counter clicked ahead by 650 Acts with the addition of the environmental school lessons and flower-planting pledges in Jordan from its partner Patriarch Diodoros the 1st School (PDS).

Over 600 PDS students gathered in the main schoolyard to listen to speeches regarding how to go green for Earth Day, how to help the environment through planting trees and flowers, and how to save energy. The student group named themselves "Earth Day Volunteers" and planted flowers in the school garden as part of Earth Day Network's effort to collect one billion Acts of environmental service before the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, aka Rio+20.

To date, over 70 million Acts have been recorded.

"Patriarch Diodoros School is a prime example of the great commitment our partners in the Middle East continue to demonstrate in helping us collect a billion Acts of Green worldwide. Hearing the voices of children at PDS and elsewhere is critical to bringing the attention of government leaders to the movement," said Kathleen Rogers, President of Earth Day Network. Rogers added that A Billion Acts of Green® aims to spur government leaders in Rio to action by showing them how strongly the world's citizens care about sustainability.

The students are enthusiastic about contributing to A Billion Acts of Green®. Seventh grader Shadha Haddadin said, "I will draw and paint in green on April 22 in dedication of our lovely planet." Abdul Aziz Al-Gandye, in grade 4, added, "We all should contribute to raising the load of the environmental pollution on the shoulders of our Mother Earth."