Teens Tap in to Environmental Concern

Teens are a hot topic in the news, but unfortunately all too often it is reports of convictions for sexting, drugs, prostitution, bullying and cyber-bullying. Recently I found out about an exciting story involving teens, who are hoping to make a difference in their community, the world and the environment. These Florida middle school teens started their own non-profit organization, "Tap In". It's a project to educate people of the effects of recyclable plastic bottles on the environment and how switching to reusable bottles can save resources and reduce pollution. Their group has begun their own grass roots campaign to education about this topic and to do something about plastic bottle use in their school, community and state. The founding members of "Tap In" include students from Logger's Run Middle School and Ms Julie Gates as their project mentor.

When I asked Tap In why they started this organization they said, "My friends and I noticed the huge amount of plastic bottles that are trashed rather than recycled. Today, we consume about 50 billion bottles of water a year. Approximately 75% or 38 billion escape recycling and add to our landfills where they take hundreds of years to biodegrade.

Tap In has been able to accomplish a great deal in the few short months it has been organized. The project has been presented to their school Principal, as well as to members of the County School Board in an effort to start recycling and reduction efforts within their school. They are gaining notice in the news and among other green grass roots organization such as an interview and feature in Earthpromises.com and the Sun-Sentinel Newspaper. The teens have developed a fully functioning website devoted to helping others replicate this program in their school, company, or organization (www.tapinbottle.com). They have also been involved in national and state competitions where Project Tap In was selected as the Florida State Finalist in the 2009/2010 Siemens' We Can Change the World Challenge. The Sieman's "We Can Change the World Competition" is a national competition to promote sustainable solutions to environmental problems. Entrants from Elementary, Middle, and High Schools compete. Middle-schoolers are challenged to identify and research environmental problems in their communities and then recommend and share solutions. Additionally, a follow up Project (Tap In Too) was selected as a winner of the Lexus Eco Challenge.

When asked what the girls' goals for the future is for the Tap In project they said, "To promote our programs to schools and organizations nationwide." Toward those goals they have responded to the many requests from educators for "how to" information. They have developed a Teacher's Resource Section of the website to address these needs. Many teachers and school administrators have left comments on the Tap In website about their intentions to launch similar programs in their schools.

When asked how these teens decided on this particular project and what made them decide to make a difference with the environment; one team member responded, "If members of my generation don't address these issues, who will? We need to make sure there's a safe environment for all these charities, organizations, and people with good ideas to do their best." These facts regarding plastic bottles were a deciding factor on choosing to educate others about the harmful environmental effects and to encourage people to use reusable bottles instead.

Fast Facts about Plastic Bottle Use

About 38 billion water bottles end up in our landfills every year.

It takes more than 700 years for a water bottle's life to end.

1,000,000 cars could be able to run for a whole year with the amount of oil used to produce a year's worth of plastic water bottles.

You are not supposed to use plastic water bottles for more than one time. (You can use reusable water bottles forever!)

One of this writer's particular environmental pet peeves is plastic bags. Tap In of course worries about the effects of plastic bottles but one member stated that plastic forks, knives, and spoons were her particular green peeve. In their personal lives they have made other earth promises (in addition to the Tap In project) including promises to reuse computer and copy paper on both sides. Also, some members have promised not to purchase plastic media (CDs, DVDs, etc.), but to download media wherever possible.

Tap In's concern for the future is that "Officials treat these issues like a game where there are winners and losers. In the long-term, our actions (or inactions) will determine whether we're all winners or losers."

To get involved in Tap in or any other environmental project these students recommend that you learn something about the problem and consider practical solutions. To become involved in Tap In or to start a similar program at your school visit their website at www.tapinbottle.com. When asked what other advice they offer they stated, "Respect our planet. Start with little things. A lot of little things add up to big things."

Apparently a lot of little things do add up to big things when you see the big difference that this small group of teens have been able make in their school, community and in the world around them.

Sources:
Personal Interview
Tap In Bottle.com