Propigate Planetary Proteges!

March's Eco-Article is all about our awesome intern, Rosie.

Seriously, she rules.

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Be An Ecological Mentor
Becky Haltermon, Boone County Solid Waste Education Coordinator
March 2009

We have an intern. It is awesome. It causes me to rewrite the lyrics to the song “Everybody Ought to Have a Maid” from the movie A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Any given afternoon, you can find me sitting in my sunny office, quietly humming, “Everybody ought to have an intern. Everybody ought to have a working teen, an enthusiast who’s laboring for absolutely free!”

It’s not just that our high school serf, Rosie, puts in time without taking a dime and it’s not just that she does all the work that no one else wants to do. What really rules is that Rosie has an excitement for the environment that can only be found in those new to the wonders of solid waste.

“What do you think is better for the planet, having a plastic reusable Christmas tree or a getting a live tree every year?” she’ll ask. “Is it better to take one long hot shower every couple of days or a short one every day?” “Is there such a thing as a ‘green’ funeral?”

There are a million studies noting the positive impact time spent in nature can have on kids. The outdoors can nurture self-discipline (A. Faber Taylor, F.E. Kuo, and W.C. Sullivan, “Views of Nature and Self-Discipline: Evidence from Inner City Children”), improve studies (Anne C. Bell and Janet E. Dyment, "Grounds for Action: Promoting Physical Activity through School Ground Greening in Canada"), and pretty much help the youngest among us grow healthier in almost every way (Stephen R. Kellert, "Nature and Childhood Development"). As far as I can tell, however, there’s very little evidence documenting the undeniable fact that kids can have a colossal positive impact on we naturalists. Rosie makes me rethink old suppositions about what can and can’t be accomplished and her inquires drive me to improve my own preconceptions about new subjects in the ecology field. Basically, her lively ideas are sustaining me until spring when I can ditch mandatory and demoralizing wintertime reports for warm weather litter removing programs and recycling presentations to little kids.

As you may have noticed, it’s sometimes a struggle to stay upbeat in the face of several impending environmental crises but hearing the hope espoused by my anti-pollution protégé helps to keep my optimism afloat.

So, here’s my advice: Grab a kid. Go outside. I promise, neither of you will regret it.

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Becky Haltermon is the Boone County Solid Waste Education and Litter Abatement Program Coordinator. Learn more at http://www.boonecountyky.org/BCSWM or contact her at 859-334-3151 or bhaltermon@boonecountyky.org.