Earth Promise: Our Future Green Visionaries

It is definitely debatable as to when and what started the environmental movement. Some may say May 28, 1892, when the Sierra Club met for the first time to discuss the potential boundary reduction of Yosemite National Park. Others may believe it was in 1962 when Senator Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day, planted the “seed” for Earth Day, in President Kennedy’s head. Others may suggest it was the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Today, it really does not matter when it started, who started it and what they did. What does matter is that it is significant enough that the idea that our environment is valuable and needs to be cared for.

We can undoubtedly say that over the years, environmentalism has become a powerful force in American culture. There have been ongoing efforts to educate the public in terms of how to use our natural resources without depleting them. It used to be that terms such as “hippie,” or “tree hugger” were used to describe only those interested in respecting the environment. A cultural shift has been happening: a new generation of environmentalists is being born, creating a shift in thinking and practice. Many of today’s youth have embraced environmental protection as a priority, and they are no longer dubbed hippies. And the hippies who did start this, are now thought of as visionaries.

A group of middle school girls from Boca Raton, Florida recognized the need for student involvement in environmental affairs. They witnessed the apathy among their peers as well as their parents’ generation regarding the mindless purchasing and disposal of plastic water bottles. As a result, they have taken the initiative to spread the word through a program cleverly coined, Tap In. I was fortunate enough to meet and interview these four inspiring 7th graders to hear about this new generation of thinking.

Earth Promise: Tell me about Tap In; how and when it was started and who is involved in its growth.

Tap In: Tap In was first created in the fall of 2009 when our teacher, Mrs. Gates, ask if we wanted to start an environmental program. All of us go to Loggers Run Middle School and are in 7th grade. We are very close friends and loved the idea of starting an eco-friendly program together. We brainstormed several ideas, but we wanted something that kids our age could relate to. We were all guilty of grabbing a water bottle and heading for school or sports activities. We knew that all this plastic waste could not be good for the environment. We developed a program that promoted the use of TAP water IN reusable water bottles.

EP: Is this an after-school club or do you work on this on your own free time?

TI: We do Tap In on our own free time. We have meetings at our houses after school and on weekends. We are constantly thinking of new ways to share Project Tap In with others. We are always adding and making changes to our website. We thought this would be a “little” project that would take a “little time”. However, we are becoming more and more active promoting our program and spreading the word about the dangers of disposable water bottles. We have visited Eco-fairs, met with politicians and educators, been interviewed by radio stations and magazines. We love what Tap In has become!

EP: I see you have developed a fabulous website, TapinBottle.com. Who designed it and keeps it current?

TI: TapInBottle.com was created as a group effort with all members contributing their special talents. We started by conducting an education experiment in 5 classrooms. After recording great success, we felt the need to share our work with other schools. We couldn’t afford to distribute the information by mail or in person. So, we started with a free web site called Yola (we learned about it last year in Girl Scouts). This was met with great success. As our program grew, we decided to buy a domain name that was easier to market. Now, we have www.TapInBottle.com which is a work in progress. We are continually making improvements to our site. We have added more educational tools, music videos, interviews, pictures, special graphics, and a visitor counter to name a few.

EP: Tap In offers “Instructions” so that others can implement your project at their schools. Can you elaborate on this?

TI: The instructions tab on our website has everything you need to start Tap In. Tap In is comprised of many teaching techniques. We used videos, speeches, displays, competitions, raffles, and even surveys. All these tools are available for free at www.TapInBottle.com . We hope that kids around the world will use our program in their classrooms.

EP: Do you go to other schools or venues to talk about Tap In?

TI: We are in the process of scheduling a meeting with the school board. We want to receive their support in distributing Tap In throughout Palm Beach County Schools. Due to the website, we can have a school start a Tap In program anywhere in the world, without us going there ourselves. However, we are offering assistance via our comments page and email address at info@TapInBottle.com .

EP: What changes, or Earth Promises as we call them, have all of you made in your lives to be greener? Changes in home, travel, school, and your community…

TI: We have all strived to make environmentally friendly changes. We now understand the difference an easy change can make on our environment. We have all made different types of changes – depending on lifestyle and budget. Some of the changes are:
* We all carpooling to and from school everyday.
*Having our family purchase hybrid cars instead of gas guzzling vehicles.
*Converting light bulbs to the energy saving Compact Fluorescent Lights. They use much less electricity (about 75% less) and last much longer than regular bulbs.
*To stop using plastic disposable bags and start using reusable storage containers.
*Using the back of school paper as scrap paper.
*Recycling plastic bags which reduces gases released in the atmosphere.
Since visiting the Earth Promise website we have all become more aware of the many other simple changes we can make to help our planet. We are definitely going to begin making more Earth Promises!

EP: What was your first, “aha!” Green moment?

TI: All of us have different experiences regarding our first “aha!” green moment! Our list includes: realizing how much water is wasted with just a small leak, taking reusable grocery bags shopping, and the importance of reusing and maximize every product we buy. We have a reanalyzed our habits and have decided to avoid garbage pile up whenever possible.

EP: Sometimes if a message is played over too much, people will tend to ignore it after a while or tune it out or turn against it. How can “green” leaders, like yourselves, be more effective in making sure we are relevant but not overbearing?

TI: We believe that our website is a great solution to a large problem. If visitors want to be a part of the solution, they can participate privately or actively (by incorporating the program at their school). However, we understand that not everyone is willing to change their behavior and be environmentally friendly. Green leaders need to change their goals with the times. Recycle, recycle, recycle was the slogan of the 80’s and 90’s. But, the best solution is not buying unnecessary disposable items that will pile-up in our landfills.

EP: What are some of the things that anger you or drive you crazy that you see people do that hurt the environment?

TI: Everyone has their own environmental pet peeves. Our groups’ main peeve is seeing people buy and drink expensive water in harmful disposable bottles. Another environmental pet peeve of ours is when people litter. It seems like a lazy and disrespectful action that says “I don’t care about the environment”. It’s really frustrating that people don’t take care of the only planet we have.

EP: I hear Tap In won an environmental award. That sounds exciting, tell me about it .

TI: We are currently entering a national eco-competition. We have lots of ideas for our schools winnings. For example, our current water fountains are original to the school and not very appealing. We hope to win money so the school can purchase new filtered water fountains and reusable water bottles for all the students. We think new filtered-water fountains will further promote the use the reusable water bottles. The teachers would also like to have smart-boards to reduce the use of handouts and paper in the classrooms.

EP: While we are being hurt by the climate crisis right now, your generation is in big trouble if we don’t take action. How can educators, like yourselves, inspire others to be involved and help the environment?

TI: The best way to spread the word about helping the environment is through education. If we can change a student’s mind about an environmental cause they will go home and educate their family. This domino effect has been proven to work for Tap In. We also try to lead by example and through social websites like Facebook. If logical and simple solutions are offered people will change their wasteful behavior. And if they can save money, even better!

EP: What message would you give others who want to spread their eco-ideas?

TI: The best way to spread eco-ideas is to be positive and persistent. Show your friends and family how easy it is to go green. Gather a group of people with similar interests and try different approaches. Set yourself as a role model to emulate. We always bring our reusable water bottles to school and have them with us on the weekends. Never give up!

EP: Who do you believe are the influential “green leaders” today?

TI: There are so many green leaders today. A few of our favorites are: – author Chris Baskind, (read our interview on our website), Al Gore, Leonardo Dicaprio- DiCaprio Foundation to promote environmental issues and producing “11th Hour” about global warming, Ed Begley Jr. and his “Living with Ed” show, Dave Matthews Band –involved with tree plantings and wind turbine construction to offset the CO2 emissions from their tour bus and Brad Pitt-co –creator of environmentally friendly homes. There are many green celebrities such as Coldplay, Pink, Rihanna,Chris Rock, Alicia Keys, Avril Lavigne, Jay Leno and John Mayer. Anybody could be a green leader, from the youngest children to the oldest adults.

EP: What is the one Earth Promise you are going to make in the future that you have not done yet?

TI:We have a list of Earth Promises which include not sleeping with the TV on, activating the sleep mode on the computer and letting the natural light in and the light bulbs off, using reusable food containers instead of disposable plastic baggies.

EP: Thank you, and the best of luck!