Youth in Action
by Vicki Wolf, November 2006
Photo of Eco-Hero award winner Gabriela Delgado

Young people all over the world are concerned about the loss of thousands of species, global warming, toxic pollution and other environmental issues, and they are taking action to make a difference. Their stories are inspiring and bring hope to a world that is in an environmental crisis.

Students produce documentary about neighborhood pollution
In Houston, young people concerned about toxic pollution from plants near Cesar Chavez High School took video cameras into their community last summer to produce a documentary on the problem. They interviewed neighbors, attended town hall meeting and talked about their own experiences growing up there. The project was sponsored by Mothers for Clean Air and led by Bryan Parras, project manager for Nuestra Palabra, a group that promotes Latino writers and provides venues for them to present their work. Parras also is media coordinator for TEJAS (Texas Environmental Justice and Advocacy Services), a new nonprofit organization for environmental justice.

Parras grew up in a neighborhood near Cesar Chavez High School, located less than one mile away from Lyndol-Citgo, ExxonMobil and Goodyear Tire Company. “One of our concerns was that the plants were leaking benzene and 1,3 butadiene, and there are other problems.” Parras says the school is located in a “kill zone.” A kill zone is defined as an area in and around a chemical plant where anyone would die in the worst possible accident involving toxic chemical spill or emissions.

Also, there are gas pipelines under the football field. “The ground is raised there. Fuel passes through the pipes on a daily basis and they are old pipelines,” Parras says. “Right across the street is a rail line where hazardous cargo, like chlorine, is transported.”

Elizabeth Salgado spent her summer after graduation from Cesar Chavez High School working on the documentary. She met Parras and members of Mothers for Clean Air through her internship at City of Houston’s Bureau of Air Quality, and they invited her to participate in the project. “I brought cameras into the community around my house and showed what I see every day,” she says. “I don’t see anyone trying to improve air quality in my area. To see these plants pollute and get away with it is very frustrating,” Salgado says.

The community near the high school is mostly Hispanic. “Some may be illegal and even if there is a problem they won’t say anything. They want to prevent bringing attention to themselves,” Salgado says. “Maybe seeing the video, they will speak out, and even if they don’t, I’m there trying to speak out for them.”

The documentary is being fine-tuned and will be presented to community groups to raise awareness about the hazards faced by the students attending Cesar Chavez High School and families living in the neighborhoods near the chemical plants.

14-year-old Eco-beat producer informs Houston area about environmental issues
Luke Jones, at age 14, produces and hosts Eco-beat for KPFT90.1FM, the Houston Pacifica affiliate. The station reaches about 140,000 listeners every day. When Jones first asked about being in the KPFT news training program, about a year and a half ago, he was told he was too young. His mother encouraged him not to give up and suggested that he apply for the youth producer position. He is now producer of both the Youth Show and Eco-Beat, a program of features about the environment.

Jones’ first news story was about kids who were doing paintings that depicted the environment. He’s gone on to produce more complex stories including a story on the correlation between lead exposure and school grades, and stories about oil spills. One of his more creative stories came to him while swimming. “I was at a swimming pool and wondering why they had to keep putting in chlorine. I found out it is because the chlorine evaporates,” Jones says. “It hurt my eyes and I wondered if it would hurt plants. I read studies and articles, and talked with people and found out chlorine from pools does kill nearby plants,” he says.

Jones says he plans to become an environmental journalist. He suggests that young people who want to get involved in doing something for the environment, “Go out there and do it. Prove to people you are capable of hard work, determination and reliability.”

International Eco Hero Awards honors young activists around the world
Since 2003, Action For Nature (AFN) – a nonprofit organization that encourages young people to take personal action to better their environments, and to foster love and respect for nature – has been honoring the work of young people between the ages of 8 and 16 who have done creative environmental projects. The winners of AFN's International Young Eco-Hero Awards program receive a cash prize and a special certificate, as well as public recognition on the AFN website. Winners also are encouraged to celebrate with friends, family and leaders in their own community.

Beryl Kay, AFN board member, says she enjoys hearing about all the projects and meeting the children in person. “In different ways, they are each outstanding,” Kay says. “What is common to all of them is that they are passionate about what they do,” she adds. “They are good speakers and good ambassadors for the environment.”

Eco-Hero Gabriela Delgado expert on the birds of Puerto Rico
Gabriela Delgado is a 2006 Eco-Hero Award winner and birder extraordinaire. Her hobby of bird watching has led her to become an expert about the birds and the eco-system that provides their habitat in Puerto Rico.

Delgado is 16 years old and lives in Humacao, Puerto Rico, near Ceiba where the Roosevelt Road Naval Base is located. She has discovered that the area is ecologically unique with a large concentration of birds. “We have 300 species of birds, 16 are endemic (native to the area),” Delgado says. “The reason so many birds stop by this place on their migration route is that several islands connect here in the Caribbean Sea. Bird habitat is provided by two eco-systems in the same area including a rain forest and a dwarf rain forest, coasts, mangrove swamps and mountains.”

Delgado has worked with a local nature preserve biologist and has studied books and the internet in her quest for knowledge about birds. She has compiled a 60-page booklet of her own photographs of the birds with both their common and scientific names. Now a bird expert herself, Delgado makes slide show presentations in schools, girl and boy scout troops, and to community groups.

Eco-Hero Smitha Ramakrishna brings education, meals and hope to children in India When Smitha Ramakrishna visited her grandparents in Bangalore and Delhi she was changed by the poverty and conditions she saw for many people there. “I felt affected and realized how lucky I am to live in the United States,” the 14-year-old from Arizona says. “I started thinking, what could I do here in Arizona.” After some research, Ramakrishna decided to start a kids’ chapter of Asha (sanctuary), an action group that supports education, health care and other basic needs in India.

Her organization has sponsored three walkathons and raised $5,200 to fund three projects – one in Delhi and two in the outskirts of Bangalore: a water treatment system and an increase in teachers wages for an orphanage that has become a school; cooking expenses for a mid-day meal – the only meal of the day for 500 children; and a rainwater collection/water treatment system that provides clean water to more than 3,000 children.

In Arizona, Ramakrishna also has founded AWAKE (Water Activists Karing for the Environment) and is active in protecting the San Francisco Peaks from being covered with artificial snow for skiing made from water reclaimed from Flagstaff sewage. Her organization tested ponds that were suppose to contain “clean water” that had been reclaimed and found nitrates, chloroform, and other bacteria in the water. “This is a sacred area for 14 Native American tribes,” she says. “We sent a letter to the governor of Airzona in support of the Native American tribes,” Ramakrishna says. “We also started a coalition to save the peaks and a petition drive. We talked to people and got about 300 signatures.” She says the petition was sent to the Flagstaff mayor in January, but he has not responded.

Ramakrishna is considering a career as a lawyer or in international relations. She says whatever she does she will always be an activist. “I want to do something with the environment, one of the most important issues I will be battling until the day I die,” she says. “I definitely want to continue activism,” Ramakrishna adds. “I heard an appalling statistic – that by 2027 if we continue our wasteful habits, two-thirds of the world population will not have access to water. I think that is good incentive to get to work.”

One of the goals of Action for Nature’s Eco-Hero Awards is to inspire other young people to take action to care for nature and the environment. Beryl Kay, AFN board member, says she hopes to see more young people from Texas apply for the 2007 Eco-Hero Awards. Nominations are welcome. Deadline for entries is February 2007. For more information go to http://www.actionfornature.org/eco-hero/ecoheroawards.html.