The fifth grade students of El Verano Elementary in Sonoma, California make a difference in their community in many different ways. Project L.I.F.E. is an acronym for Living in Friendship with the Earth. This group has developed their own website, conducted organized beach clean-ups on Limantour Beach, and had a portion of their schoolyard designated as an official "Schoolyard Wildlife Habitat". Using the proceeds from the collection of aluminum cans, the group has participated in the "Adopt-a-Watershed" program, worked on a bank restoration project on Sonoma Creek, adopted a cheetah cub from Cheetah Conservation, adopted two manatees from Save the Manatee Club, and even adopted 700 square feet of wetlands through the "Friends of Wetlands" and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Project L.I.F.E. also aids Bat International and the California Wood Duck Association by monitoring roosting and nesting boxes.

Conservation International made the following statement, "As a conservation partner in the Busch Entertainment Corporation Environmental Excellence Awards, Conservation International is excited to announce that the organization has chosen to align itself with the contest winner, Project L.I.F.E., from Sonoma, California. The goal of Project L.I.F.E. (living in friendship with the Earth) corresponds perfectly with CI's mission to conserve the Earth's living natural heritage and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live in harmony with nature. CI has a broad-based, interdisciplinary approach to conservation that involves working through policy, education, economics, and science activities. Project L.I.F.E. members share a similar philosophy, as their activities incorporate political action (contacting government leaders), ecological projects based on hard-science (reforestation, riparian bank restoration, species protection, and wetlands preservation), and even projects that use economic incentives to finance their conservation efforts (aluminum recycling programs use to adopt endangered manatees). Furthermore, CI supports the democratic way in which Project L.I.F.E. is organized, empowering each of its members to realize their fullest conservation potential - an approach that has enabled them to accomplish incredible results. CI's International and Domestic Environmental Education staff applaud Project L.I.F.E. as an excellent model for youth participation in conservation - a model that can be shared with enthusiastic young conservationists everywhere."