Age
7
Country of Residence
United States
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
I want to tell you about my friend "Theodore" and the crows. I found Theo stuck in a bunch of plastic bags. I learned ar school that sea turtles eat plastic bags because they look like thier food. I have started to pay more attention and pick up all the trash I see in the woods everyday. I see my turtle often and have started being friends with the crows too. They tell me when something is going on that I need to investigate. My mom helped me learn I don't have to wait for grown-ups to protect nature. I can do it myself. I have now kids in a few neighborhoods from my school helping to pick up trash. We have competitions to see who can get the most. I want to keep the earth green and clean.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
I tell everyone about saving the turtle and what animals are in the woods. When kids hear about real animals getting stuck in trash, they want to help right away. We make a club that meets at the bus stop and talk about our plans. We have 10 of us and others have joined on the trails when they see us. We could spread the information by having shirts made with our information/logo while we are out. This would help too.
How many people are on your team?
10
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Even though my project is still small, we have done over 15 clean ups. We are sometimes limited on trash bags and clean up supplies. I have taken over 20 bags of trash out of the woods on my walks. There are about 10 of us who regularly attend and I want to add more. I have had multiple people on walks tell me what a good thing I am doing and it inspired them to do more too. My neighbors are starting to be more careful with their trash. My big goal is to get my whole second-grade class to join a big neighborhood cleanup day this spring so we can keep our whole town green and clean.
Project Category
My project is a brand new / emerging idea
Project Stage
Pilot-Stage (We’ve tried an activity or two)
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
Keep our neighborhool clean and green for the animals and people to enjoy!
Project title
Clean and Green!
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
The problem I am helping to solve is litter and plastic trash in our woods, that goes in the ocean. When people drop trash on the ground, wind and rain push it into the water. Animals suffer and Theodore can get stuck in it or eat it and get sick. This matters to me because I love exploring outside, and animals don't have hands to clean up our mess. It also matters to my community because nobody wants to swim in dirty water or walk in trashy woods. Picking up litter keeps our neighborhood green, clean, and safe for everyone! I also started to see invasive vines from people throwing their plants in the woods. I want to start cutting these too because they are killing the trees.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next year, I want to grow to bigger area and clean more. I could partner with Earth Day and my school. It would be good to have our own buckets and supplies. My art teacher said he will help wtih making posters and more signs.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
What makes "Theodore's Team" different from regular cleanups is that it’s run by kids, inspired by a real animal friend, and tackles two problems at the same time instead of just one! Here is how my project is new and innovative: There are groups that pick up trash but no one in my area that does in these woods. There are not any kids being the leader. When my classmates and neighbors see another second grader out there with trash grabbers, it's way more exciting, and makes them want to help. We will be doing two things while we are in the woods getting the trash and recycling we also will cut those vines so the plants can grow. I will not keep walking past them seeing them get bigger and knowing I could do something.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
My solution is a hands-on cleanup "Theodore's Team" to protect our woods, inlets, and ocean from trash and bully plants. Every weekend after sports we put on our mud boots, grab gloves and trash grabbers, and take a big bucket and recycling bags down woods inlet. Instead of just walking past litter, I hunt for it! I pick up plastic wrappers, juice pouches, bottles, and straws. Then, I sort everything out so clean plastic and cans go into the recycling bin at my house. We throw the trash away. We will also take care of some of those invasive vines we see while looking for trash. Those are bully plants from other places that wrap around trees . They kill the plants that Theodore and other animals need. With a grown-up's help, I carefully pull up those invasive weeds by the roots so our good local plants have room to grow. and cut the bottoms so they stop growing. I will need craft supplies to make posters for others to come help. The more I get people to help the less they will litter. . I teach them why it's important to protect nature and invite them to join my weekend cleanup walks.
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
There are about 10 of us but we want more. We want the whole community. I organize the time by putting out posters and QR codes. I let others know what to bring and what I have. I usually have gloves, trasn bags and sometimes grabbers but they can break. One of us is the water person and another takes the hill. The water person wears mud boots. We decide who goes where in parnters so we cover it all. We like to make a map after school to decide.
