By Deja Banner (12 years old)
Every day we begin our daily routines in which we unknowingly are in touch with the ecology that surrounds us. Being an Ecokid means doing things to help our environment sustain itself like: turning off the water while we brush our teeth, volunteering to walk to school some days rather than riding in a car, disposing of our trash in the proper containers, recycling bottles and using plastic instead of Styrofoam containers for our lunch.
We hear a lot about ‘being green’. The first step is to understand what this means. One thing I do to show I am “green” and an Ecokid is planting plants and trees in my yard and helping to take care of the plants at my school and at my grandmother’s house. These are important to our ecosystem. They absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and give off oxygen. Growing plants is a good way of helping to keep the air clean. Another thing I am doing is taking my drinking bottle to school. Bottles, cans, plastic and Styrofoam cups often end up as waste. Many of these containers can end up in landfills or worse, as litter! Reusing our bottle is helping to reduce the amount of plastic. Every day we throw out garbage that goes to a landfill or is burned. Instead of throwing out this waste I recycle the papers into art or use them as packing material. I collect the cans and bottles to be recycled.
These are just some of the things I am doing as an EcoKid. We can share our ideas with each other and continue making this beautiful planet of ours as ‘green’ as it can be! Ecokids are the new generation of superheroes out to save the planet!