Liam and his friends peddled that message to all corners of the city before teaming with the eWaste Center to host the collection. They hit the farmers market, told friends and their parents, and last week took their cause before the City Council.
Some of the roughly 200 visitors who dropped off several truckloads of aged equipment — including a washer and dryer, flat-screen televisions and discarded video games — were shocked to find their hosts so young. But what the group lacks in years it more than makes up for in pluck, said Julie Ann Taylor, a service learning manager at Tree People, a nonprofit environmental agency.
Though Liam credits his “green streak” to his mother, advisor and sixth-grade science teacher Jamie Wisehaupt was quick to point out that the eco club is almost entirely student organized.
Since founding the club in September, members have floated the idea of lobbying officials to impose a citywide ban on plastic shopping bags, and have adopted the campus moniker “It’s cool to be a green kid,” said Taylor Durbin, 11.
“I really think we should do more to help our environment — for our generation and the next,” Taylor said. “We’re really poisoning the Earth right now.”
Among the messages she’s spread to classmates are: Turn off the lights in unoccupied rooms; don’t leave the faucet running while brushing your teeth; and plant trees when possible.
“I feel great because I know I am doing something to help the environment,” she said. “It makes me feel special because of that.”
