National Green Kids Club Resources


America’s Great Outdoors: AmericasGreatOutdoors.gov. Provides news of federal conservation and recreation initiatives and how local communities become involved.


EPA Environmental Kids Club: epa.gov/kids. Explores environmental information, games and activities.


National Audubon Society: Audubon.org/locations. Sponsors Junior Audubon Clubs.


encourage recycling by the larger community. The teens distribute recycling bins and show residents how to properly use them. A few years ago, students at Westerly Middle School, in Rhode Island, decided to do something about global warming, so they formed a junior club of Westerly Innovations Network, a local student-led community service team. Under the banner, Project TGIF – Turn Grease Into Fuel, they placed a grease receptacle at the town transfer station, convinced 64 restaurants to donate used fryer oil, and enlisted an oil recycling facility to process it. With money earned from the activity, they purchased biofuel for area charities. They also held events to educate the public on the concept.


“Be flexible and don’t worry if a final [green project] outcome isn’t quite what you expected. It will work out if you make an effort.”


~ Cassandra, Westerly Middle School eighth-grader By 2009, the award-winning program had recycled 36,000


gallons of waste oil, eliminating 600,000 pounds of carbon diox- ide. MTV featured the project in its Switch Campaign.


Getting Started Many schools already have green kids clubs, which can be easy to start. Interested students begin by contacting their principal or des- ignated sustainability officer, an increasingly common staff position. Some libraries, museums and nature centers also host such clubs. They often have a specific core focus, such as cave or stream


ecology. Local Audubon Society chapters, for example, may offer a Junior Audubon Club to introduce youngsters to bird watching. As National Audubon Society spokesperson Delta Willis notes, “It is vital to create new conservation stewards.” When famous alum Sigourney Weaver was recently honored with


the organization’s Rachel Carson Award, the actress cited her own partici- pation in the Junior Audubon Club as inspiration for her lifelong support of conservation. “She continues to go bird watching,” Willis adds. Green kids clubs may be bolstered by parent involvement. French serves on the Green Team at her children’s school, where


she and other parents meet with administrators and students to help them accomplish their sustainable goals. “There is too much going on in a school day to ask for teachers to do more, so this is an area where parents can help,” she comments. Thinking globally, high school students in Pleasant Hill, Califor- nia, formed Project Jatropha three years ago to encourage struggling farmers in India to plant jatropha crops that can be turned into biofuel far more efficiently than corn. The teens have earned honors from both the Earth Island Institute’s Brower Youth Awards and the Environmental Protection Agency’s President’s Environmental Youth Awards. Green kids clubs provide educational and entertaining activities


that help young people get involved, and can even lead to a career or lifelong hobby. If there isn’t one locally, why not start one up?


Brian Clark Howard is a New York City-based multimedia journalist and the co-author of Green Lighting and Geothermal HVAC: Build Your Own Wind Power System. Connect at BrianClarkHoward.com.


natural awakenings October 2011 19


National Geographic Kids: Kids.NationalGeographic.com/ kids. Offers wildlife-related news, videos and games.


Richard Louv: RichardLouv.com. Features excerpts from his books, Last Child in the Woods and The Nature Prin- ciple, and other tools and resources to counter youngsters’ nature deficit.


Teens for Planet Earth: TeensForPlanetEarth.ning.com. Learn how the Wildlife Conservation Society supports and honors youth making a difference, from China’s Tetra Paks Recycling Team to Utah’s invasive species Plant Patrol.


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