Audrey Chase, 13 Menan, Idaho
Audrey, founder of Leaf It To Us, raised funds to plant more than 100 trees in Utah and successfully lobbied the state legislature for a tree fund for kids, which matches the money the kids raise. Then Audrey successfully lobbied for a similar national tree fund for kids.
Gulf Beaches Elementary School St. Petersburg, Florida
Working with the PTA and the local native-plant society, these budding naturalists have created a butterfly habitat and a maritime forest with native plants that need no pesticides and provide food and shelter for wildlife.
William Wong, 11 San Francisco, California
Upset by the bus pollution in his city, William learned about solar power at school and entered the first Young Eco Inventors Contest with an idea for a solar-powered car. He won first junior prize in San Francisco last September. The contest will be repeated this year in Los Angeles.
Detroit gangs, 8-18 Detroit, Michigan
Two rival Detroit gangs have teamed up to save their environment. With the assistance of the community program Youth Enrichment Source (YES), almost 200 youths from the Third Avenue and 12th Street gangs are working to remove graffiti from the buildings in their neighborhood. They plan to paint murals in their place.
Brady Landon Mann, 11 Vancouver, Washington
While in third grade, Brady persuaded his school to start recycling classroom paper and milk cartons. Next, Brady helped persuade his city’s curbside recycling company to collect from apartments as well as houses. Brady also set up a program for neighborhood kids to pick up trash around their buildings for a dollar a bag.
Leigh-Leigh Bradford, 12 Wheaton, Maryland
When Leigh-Leigh was 8, she decided to learn about organic gardening. After successfully growing vegetables without pesticides in her own garden, she helped her grandfather write a book called “A Child’s Organic Garden: Grow Your Own Delicious Nutritious Foods.”
Macon Terry, 12 Houston, Texas
In 1991, Macon made his first trip to Mexico to help endangered sea turtles. By last year, 67 Boy Scouts had made the annual trek to the Yucatan. Macon also enjoys using ventriloquism as a fun way to spread environmental messages.
Melissa Poe, 13 Nashville, Tennessee
When she was 9, Melissa Poe wrote a letter to President Bush asking him to save the environment. She got a form letter back. Instead of getting mad, Melissa got active. Today she heads a nationwide, 100,000-member organization called Kids For A Clean Environment (F.A.C.E.), whose activities include planting trees and producing music videos about ecology.
