“What am I doing here?” I thought to myself. It was seventh grade, and I was deep in the dungeons of my school’s sub-basement. I had gotten to school very early that morning, well before classes would start, and I stood at the base of a mound of bags. The bags were bulging with dirty plastic bottles that my school’s environmental group had the honor of cleaning, sorting, and recycling. It was my first year on my school’s Roots and Shoots club, a chapter of a worldwide organization founded by Jane Goodall. Like many things in life the enthusiasm for the club in the beginning of the year was strong with members ranging from middle schoolers to seniors. However, as time went on many students were disenchanted by the nauseating recycling process the club was responsible for. The member numbers dwindled which was calamitous for such a small school such as mine.
And thus, there I was all alone facing a task that was far bigger than I was. And yet, there I was all alone taking one bottle at the time rinsing them and sorting them so they could be recycled. Why was one student carrying that burden? Why was I the only one who stayed to continue to recycling? These questions nagged my brain as I emptied a particularly revolting bottle of milk that had got chunky and came out in globs. As the putrid smell seared by throat and I started to gag, I wanted to stop and leave. I mean honestly who was it that decided to put milk in plastic bottles instead of the traditional carton? For some reason I did not stop, and I continued to wash the bottles until math class where my fellow classmates would not sit next to me due to the fact I smelt of rotten milk.
From seventh grade on recycling got easier. After much frustration, we now have a secure method for recycling both plastic bottles and paper. I am in eleventh grade now, president of my Roots and Shoots club, and I am also a member of the Roots and Shoots National Youth Leadership Council which has members from all around the country devoted to helping people, animals, and the environment. It was my first club mentor, Mr. Gray, who got me involved not just in Roots and Shoots, but also in caring for the environment. His authentic love and passion has shaped me into the person I am today. A person who knows how beautiful, powerful, and vital nature is, and a person determined to do whatever he can to save it.
I do not know why I did not give up years ago and throw away all the plastic bottles in aggravation at my friends’ lack of empathy and the world’s lack of awareness. After all it wasn’t like that one bottle I recycled would engender any difference in the world. Landfills would continue to fill, the globe would continue to warm, and biodiversity would continue to plummet. However, there was something in my heart that kept me going. Deep in my heart I knew what I did in that basement would impact the world because if I believed that I must always recycle and I must always make choices that help preserve the environment then maybe other people will do the same. And if other people carry the same compassion in their heart and make the same conscious decisions then there will be a whole lot people recycling, a whole lot people composting, a whole lot people limiting their waste, and a whole lot people using reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones. This chain reaction amplifies the impact we all have and this is truly where change happens.
Who knew what could be born out of a small school in Kingston, Massachusetts. Each year the Roots and Shoots club and I take on new projects that spread awareness and solve environmental problems ranging from annual beach cleanups to bottle and can drives. Every year we have a Green Week where we teach people about what they can do to help the environment. Each student writes their pledge on a paper leaf such as vowing take shorter showers, unplug electronics, or start composting at their home and we amass all the leaves together to form a tree of pledges. We have also worked with a sustainable agriculture farm nearby and have learned about hydroponics and worm composting. With a newly added greenhouse to my school and the approaching end to my high school career this is the year I am going to really push for establishing a community garden at my school which we have been pining for years. This would not only provide a source of fresh food for students, but would also serve as a teaching tool for sustainable practices and the life cycle of plants.
Being on the National Youth Leadership Council has put me in contact with immensely passionate youths from across the country. When you meet someone who carries the same love that you do for the environment it is a beautiful experience. Together we have learned how to fix the world’s problems by attacking them at the roots (literally) such as permaculture which is method of sustainable agriculture that deals with the problems of pesticide use, water management, and monoculture. We, the human civilization, have ravaged the Earth, and it is our ethical duty to aid it in its recovery. That duty is on our shoulders especially the youth of the world. I know there are people out there who like I was are on the brink of giving up because they are overwhelmed with the task at hand. There are people out there in basements like the one I was in thinking their work is useless. Listen to me, it is not. That day recycling in the basement I found something in my heart that I know is in each of yours: Bravery, Love, and Hope.