Eco-Warrior Scholarship

Most people go throughout their day, without a care for how their actions could affect the greater world. every once and a while they will see litter and remember that the earth is something worth protecting, maybe they will snap a picture and post it commenting on how awful humanity is, but a couple of steps later such concerns will be replaced by other concerns. It is this mindset that I have worked to avoid since I was a young child. I was raised in a household that prioritized the idea of a healthy earth. saying like "we only have one planet" have filled my childhood memories. I make an effort to limit my meat consumption to local suppliers, to only buy second-hand clothes, and to pick up litter whenever I see it. I take short showers and reuse as many goods as possible. I started a tradition with my family to have black-out days, where we use no electricity for the whole day, this is getting more and more difficult as we grow more technologically dependent, but it feels good to unplug for twenty-four hours and bask in the light of candles. I make sure to purchase as many household items as I can from eco-friendly companies and I advocate for earth-healthy practices in my school. I hope that my efforts to protect our home with have a positive impact on the environment but with all of my efforts, I know that I still do things that harm the earth's health. I live in a very rural area, so I drive thirty to forty minutes to town every day. I have individually packaged snacks that I pack in my lunch and I use a lot of paper during and outside of school. These more negative aspects of my daily choices are habits that I have developed over time and are perpetuated by my society. Even the things I try to do for the earth can end up hurting it. For instance, eating locally means that I am driving more to pick up meat and milk from local farms, which means I am putting more carbon monoxide into the atmosphere and not helping with global warming. In addition, using a lot of paper contributes to deforestation, and while it is true that one person can not be the cause of deforestation if everyone is using the same amount or more paper than I am, that has a substantial impact on such a huge issue. Throughout my school, however, I have used posters and mini-meetings, to discuss different ways to live sustainably with my peers. I put posters up in bathrooms, encouraging people to limit their paper towel use to one or two pieces, hence using less paper overall. I also encourage the use of reusable water bottles and silverware in an attempt to use less plastic in our school environment. By promoting these ideals as well as following them myself I hope that I am spreading the idea of living sustainably.