Teens tackle pollution in their communities

I bet you don't recycle your family's dryer lint. You probably don't reduce waste by reusing tuna cans as cookie cutters, either.

That's okay. The earth is packed full of plenty of areas that could stand a little improving. Take a look in your community - perhaps the pollution needs patrolling, or the sea turtles need saving. There's bound to be at least one environmental cause you find interesting and worthwhile.

To celebrate this year's Earth Day, we thought you might enjoy reading about some inspiring young environmentalists. Not only did they realize the powerful effects of a little perseverance and passion, but they also proved to the government, businesses, and even their own critics that kids must be seen and heard.

When Barbara Brown of Victoria, Texas, was 11, her friend Kate noticed her father pouring used motor oil on a fencepost to kill weeds.

"The weeds did die, but we wanted to know: What happened to the oil?" says Barbara, who is now 17.

What Barbara and her friends Kate Klinkerman and Lacy Jones found out was that the toxic oil seeped into the soil - and eventually into the water supply. "What we were doing on our land was possibly contaminating our own water," Barbara says.

So the trio set out to clean up their own backyards - literally. "We knew that we were just sixth-graders, but that didn't stop us from doing what we believe is right," Barbara says.

In 1998, they formed the program Don't Be Crude, and began educating their community about the dangers of using motor fluids as weed and insect killers. (This is a common practice in rural areas like Victoria, especially since many folks live far from car-maintenance locations, which recycle used oil.)

They also got support from the government and businesses to set up five do-it-yourself recycling units in Victoria County.

Today, Don't Be Crude has 18 units in seven counties - and protects thousands of acres of groundwater from contamination through improper fluid disposal, says Barbara.

In addition, the girls speak to audiences across the nation (some as large as 1,500 people) to encourage young people to get involved in protecting the earth.

Sometimes, Barbara says, that involves getting rid of stereotypes.

"In Texas, you're labeled a tree hugger if you do something to help the environment - but I think that's just because people aren't very educated about the environment," she says.

The team also tries to teach others that there's much more to protecting the planet than recycling cans. "People usually know about recycling," she says. "But they often simply don't realize how much more they could be doing."

In December 2001, Amir Nadav was in his junior year of high school when he decided he wanted to do something more to help the environment. So he wandered into a local Sierra Club meeting. There, they were discussing new reports on the harmful effects of school-bus idling.

"I thought, this is really cool. I ride a school bus, I have friends who ride school buses, so this is an issue that clearly affects me," says the Eagan, Minn., teen.

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