When I began elementary school, it was around the time recycling was first being introduced to my town. Residents were told they had to separate their waste — glass and aluminum now had their own containers. Recycling was the rage. We talked about it in class, and had assemblies with environmentally friendly guest speakers.
Wholeheartedly, I embraced this new lifestyle that included recycling. I explained the importance of recycling to my parents and grandparents, who continued to scratch their heads over the new receptacles provided by the township.
As I grew older, recycling became second nature. As soon as I finished a can of soda, I looked for a recycling bin. When I went to an admittedly liberal college on the east coast, we recycled everything, and with specifics — office paper, newspaper, clear bottles, colored bottles, cardboard, and so on. Recycling is such a part of my life that when I arrive in towns where there isn’t a recycling policy, or, heaven forbid, I see aluminum and regular waste mixed, I’m shocked and not just a little angry. It’s so easy and so necessary. And I know I feel this way because I learned about recycling at such a young age.
Youth stewardship is an invaluable resource too often left untapped. When you tell children the water is dirty, their reaction is to clean it up. Worries about time, cost, and politics have not yet corrupted their outlook.
With this understanding, New Jersey Community Water Watch (NJCWW) heads for elementary schools in five different New Jersey cities to celebrate their third annual Education Week. This week, AmeriCorps volunteers will present environmental education lessons to students throughout the state, encouraging pollution prevention and community service.
By alerting children at an early age to the potential dangers of pollution and the means of preventing this pollution, they are more likely to carry the lessons with them into adulthood. Perhaps then, even as adults, worries about time, cost and politics will not have clouded their view.
Karen Dunak
New Jersey Community
Water Watch
New Brunswick