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– Baba Diome, Senegalese Naturalist

EarthTeam Video

Caesar Chavez Day edited by Tyler Jolley Stewart MS, Pinole (Click camera to watch video 6.6mb)
EarthTeam Animation
Water Pollution		Earth Squad
by Amanita Cornejo, Julie Lo, and Xavier Anderson DeAnza HS (Click camera to watch video129.3mb)		by Jeremy Still-Nichols, Habid Rascon, Michael Salamanca and Jeremiah Chacha DeAnza HS (Click camera to watch video 406.6mb)

The Youth Coalition Report: An Earth Day Campaign

By Derek Emmons, Acalanes HS, Lafayette

Each month in Berkley, students from various East Bay high schools come together and plan environmental action in our community. These Youth Coalition meetings are hosted by Earth Team and involve educational speakers, exchanging of project ideas amongst members of the group, and working towards a group agenda.

Currently, our group agenda is to raise awareness about the importance of Fair Trade products by selling Fair Trade Chocolate and handing out information at our high schools.  Fair Trade products guarantee that the farmers and laborers involved in the production of goods were paid decent wages, no child labor was used, and that an environmentally sustainable method of agriculture was used.

Click here to watch the video about the Fair Trade video to learn more.

Walnut Creek Intermediate has an exciting E Club.  Read about their plans for Earth Day.

Students Organize and Plan Student Leadership Conference

By Giovana Lemes, Middle College HS, San Pablo

On April 26-30, 2006, we, the students at Middle College High School at Contra Costa College, and the College of San Mateo, will have the honor of co-hosting the 14th Annual Middle College National Consortium Student Leadership Conference. Our conference theme for this year is “Youth Speaks! What Are Corporate Responsibilities To Our Environment?”
Prior to attending the conference, the students from Middle Colleges from all around the country will be conducting research and preparing a written report at their school sites related to the conference theme.  At the College of San Mateo, each school will be making a presentation of their findings to the conference participants. Unlike most conferences, this conference will also engage the participants in hands-on activities. The students will participate in workstations at the Marin Headlands, northwest of the Golden Gate Bridge, and EcoVillage, 5 acres of preserved land saved from development on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay.  The students will gain information about bio monitoring a pond, beach inquiry, geology studies, watershed activities, and environmental justice. There will also be panel discussions with representatives from local corporations and environmental groups dealing with such topics as “Ways Corporations Give Back”, “How Companies Live Their Values”,  “What Are Barriers To CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)?” and “CSR And Youth”. In addition, students will engage in activities such as plant restoration and beach cleanup at Half Moon Bay, the largest public access beach in the United States near a metropolitan area. The conference will culminate with a visit to Marine World. This conference will enable the students to make a personal commitment to improving and maintaining the environment, explore different settings, make new friends and witness the beauty of the Bay Area.	"Rising" By Kiona Medina Northgate HS (click on photo to view large image)
We, a group of students at MCHS along with our principals, are responsible for planning and covering the costs of the programs, food, activities and transportation for the 275 students, teachers and principals who will be attending this year’s conference. We have been organizing fundraisers since December of 2005 by contacting companies and foundations in and around the Bay Area. We are still working hard to gain financial support so that all the participants will have a rewarding educational experience.  We are concerned students who want to see everyone get involved in improving and maintaining the environment for future generations.  Our goal is to educate and train the participants to go back to their communities to engage corporations in constructive environmental conversations in order to bring about a cleaner environment for all.

Environmental Club Currents

By Roshni Bhatnagar, 8th grade, WCI, Walnut Creek

Environmental Club Currents 

By Roshni Bhatnagar, Walnut Creek Intermediate, Walnut Creek

As always, our members are busy with various events and projects for the club. There is a lot going on, including the filming of an environmental movie. We are also beginning to plan WCI’s very own celebration of Earth Day.

Actually, we’ll be having an entire week of activities regarding Earth Day. Potentially, every day of that week, there will be a different event going on during the school day. There will be an assembly about the importance of recycling and a portion on innovation. We will have a “Trash-free Lunch Day” in which 1st and 2nd lunch will compete to see who disposes of the least trash, and that lunch will be rewarded. We will be selling pins created by members of the Environmental Club to help raise money for the funding for our future projects. Our club movie has been finished and entered in a competition on March 20. This EarthTeam exhibition is mostly for high school students, and we are one of the few middle schools entering. Our movie will be aired on television numerous times. As you can tell, there is a lot going on, and we hope to enjoy the activities.

"Shore Bird" By Justin Secor Piedmont HS (click on photo to view large image)

What do Willie Nelson, Darrel Hanna, and Mrs. Green have in common? They are all big fans of veggie oil

By Abirami Rajasegaran & Sankari Ayyaluru, Walnut Creek Intermediate

Mrs.Green, what do you think is the most unique factor about your car?

The unique thing about my car is that it runs on recycled vegetable oil that we can pick up from restaurants.

When and why did you decide to convert this car?

When gas prices reached over 3 dollars, we decided that it would be a good idea.

When did you come up with the idea to convert your car to run on recycled vegetable oil?

I read a newspaper article, about some college students on the east coast who had converted an old school bus to run on vegetable oil. They painted the bus in wild colors and they took a year driving around the whole country visiting all the fast food places and refueling with vegetable oil.

In what ways is having a car that runs on vegetable oil an  improvement over a car that runs on regular gas?

For me it’s an improvement just because I can always count on the price, which is free. Since there is a limited amount of fossil fuel in this world, I wouldn’t want to ruin beautiful areas just to drill for oil. As oil runs out, this is bound to happen since there is a finite amount of it. This is one of the ways we can make sure that this does not happen.

What are some of the issues involved in converting a car to run on vegetable oil?

The first issue is that the car has to have a diesel engine. The next issue is that if you are not mechanically inclined it will cost you between $1200 $1500 to have the conversion done by a professional. Then you have to find a restaurant to donate their vegetable oil to you on a weekly basis.

The conversion to vegetable oil cars is catching on. More and more people have started to convert their cars. Do you like this idea? For more information go to http://greasecar.com/.

Children Protect Rainforests

By Roshni Bhatnagar, Walnut Creek Intermediate School

In 1987 at a small elementary school in Sweden, the dream of saving rainforests began. When the children were studying tropical rainforests and their fast depletion, an idea struck a teacher and a nine-year-old student on how this could be prevented, and they acted on it. The young students started a money-raising campaign to buy rainforest land near the Monteverde preserve in Costa Rica. Two years later, their original purchase of about 15 acres increased to the overwhelming amount of less than 17,935 acres. People from around the world are contributing to the cause, both as individuals and as groups.

The International Children’s Rainforest Network (ICRN) is an organization of students and teachers working to improve the protection of rainforests. One of the most widely known of these is the First Children’s Rainforest in Monteverde, Costa Rica. It was bought with contributions from schools in Sweden, England, Japan, Germany, Canada, and the United States, and with these funds, over 17,290 acres of cloud forest habitat are now protected. Environmentalists, to help ensure the survival of the forest and to “educate and serve the community”, have established a research and educational center. People from around the world use the facilities, including teachers and students on ecology trips. Those involved in this project have immense perseverance, as well as a strong will to save the rainforests.

WCI - Plans for Earth Day

By Roshni Bhatnagar, Walnut Creek Intermediate School

In search of more creative ways to utilize natural waste in an environmentally friendly way, San Franciscans will be piloting the use of canine feces as a means of creating usable methane gas. Native San Franciscans already contribute to the conservation of the environment by recycling 2/3 of their garbage every year, now they will be utilizing the 6,500 tons of man’s-best-friend-excrement by tossing it into a Methane digester.

Although Methane digesters are not new to the United States and have been used for several years now, the idea of using dog feces is unique to San Francisco. Dog feces, along with other waste, have been used in Europe for years, and now the tactic will be administered in a city that has 240,000 dogs and cats. If San Francisco succeeds in utilizing said feces for electricity; other cities may follow suit.

But Oh, Doggy Doo!

By Katie Salazar, Northgate HS, Walnut Creek

In search of more creative ways to utilize natural waste in an environmentally friendly way, San Franciscans will be piloting the use of canine feces as a means of creating usable methane gas. Native San Franciscans already contribute to the conservation of the environment by recycling 2/3 of their garbage every year, now they will be utilizing the 6,500 tons of man’s-best-friend-excrement by tossing it into a Methane digester.

Although Methane digesters are not new to the United States and have been used for several years now, the idea of using dog feces is unique to San Francisco. Dog feces, along with other waste, have been used in Europe for years, and now the tactic will be administered in a city that has 240,000 dogs and cats. If San Francisco succeeds in utilizing said feces for electricity; other cities may follow suit.

Cell Phone Recycling Benefits More Than The Environment

By Kiona Medina, Piedmont HS

Do you have old unusable cell phones lying around the house? With fast-growing technology new model cell phones are constantly brought to the market. If you are storing old models and don't know what to do with these, here is a solution for you: recycling. Production and disposal of cell phones and all other electronic devices pose an increasing threat to human health and to the environment. When mobile devices are thrown into the garbage they eventually leak lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and other toxic substances that contaminate the water supply. In fact, today's consumer electronics have created 40% of the lead found in landfills. Other regions burn their waste, which puts these same toxic elements into the air, an air made toxic that pollutes rainwater. Since all animal and plant life needs water, everybody gets poisoned.   In addition, toxic substances released into the environment also affect the human brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, bones, nerves and much more. By recycling your cell phone, you can save animals and plant life, you can save the environment, and you can protect yourself.

"Mourning dove " By Joshua Martarella, Jr Stone Valley MS, Alamo (click on photo to view large image)

Recycling is easy. Just log on http://collectivegood.com and follow the three steps. The organization accepts and recycles all models of cell phones, mobile phones, pagers and all sorts of electronic devices including battery chargers and related accessories. Next time you get a new cell phone consider the last thing you can do with your old one: save the environment.

A Green Revolution

By Brian Austin Cooke-Lindsay, Grape Creek High School, San Angelo, Texas

The Earth cannot speak for itself. It cannot cry out when we return its loving embrace with violence, destruction, and sterilization. This is why we must speak up for our ever-silent Mother. Her interest cannot and will not be suppressed much longer; if it is, the consequences will be grave for us. This is why I propose an immediate transition into a new and improved economy. A Green Revolution is in order.

How will we go about ushering in this highly possible and bright future? The same way Eli Whitney and Robert Fulton brought in sweeping changes that resulted in the Industrial Revolution. Innovation, reformation, and human ingenuity will all be essential elements as we enter into the next, and hopefully not last, stage in human development.

There is one area of our lives that if improved, would lead to

positive changes in the state of the environment. The area of which I speak is over-consumption. While this is not a problem for some, (approximately one billion people suffer from hunger, and another three and a half billion lack basic vitamins and minerals ) over one billion people suffer from obesity. What is the cause of this? Some lack the necessities of life, while others gorge themselves at the expense of foreign laborers and the Earth. The clear answer is that people have lost their sense of rootedness and instead of finding fulfillment through the beauty of nature and their relationships with family, they look for it in the latest Nike or at an all-you-can-eat buffet at Golden Corral. We must stop this madness.

The use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to grow our abundance of crops, and the environmentally degrading mining practices that we use to obtain our precious metals cannot continue. The saddest thing is that these are both unnecessary and hedonistic practices. Commercial farmers will argue the point on how to grow crops to the death. Growing organic produce is too expensive, they whine. But in recent years, organic farming methods have taken off. The industry now makes $3.5 billion in the US alone, and has grown twenty percent in each of the last seven years. And as far as the strip mining of metals goes, it isn’t even necessary. Many of the materials we obtain, such as aluminum and copper serve invaluable purposes, but when companies are willing to destroy huge tracts of pristine nature simply to turn a profit and put shiny golden bracelets on America’s housewives, something is awry.

The solutions are simple, but for some reason, we have been slow to embrace them. The first step would be a ban on all synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Rachel Carson’s voice brought these evils to the public’s attention forty years ago, but we have forgotten the dangers they impose. Our government officials know we are slowly being poisoned, but they see this as a necessary evil. However I know that is a lie; this is one evil that cannot be embraced. Since our elected representatives feel otherwise, there is only one solution: a national uprising of all the voices that know the truth, and wish to bring about the destruction of this evil enterprise. True, our nation has done something to protect the environment with the banning of DDT and several other dangerous substances, but I will not feel safe until the last drop of poison is removed from our shelves and our farms. I have veered from the issue of mass consumption, but the fact that we are willing to spray our food with poison merely to be able to grow more of it is the ultimate testament to the fact that we use far too much.

As I stated, over consumption is at the root of all our environmental problems. Don’t believe me? Just look at some of the most polluted places on Earth. Berezniki is one of the most polluted towns in Russia because of unregulated industrial activity. China, which produces the useless goods and trinkets America gobbles up has few environmental safeguards, and factories emit pollutants without restriction. They supply their own countries with some of these goods, but the majority of their output is shipped over to the good old USA. Do we really want the unwilling victims in foreign countries to be exposed to these toxins simply so we can have cheap shoes? Some might; I do not. I would more willingly sport sackcloth to school than buy sweatshop shoes again, and in the future, I am taking the necessary steps to avoid buying those products that contribute to environmental degradation. We honestly don’t need them, and if you think you do, ask yourself the following question: do you need your things more than the Earth needs a permanent break from our insanity? No! There is no other answer than that, sorry to disappoint.

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