Canyon Park Junior High ninth-grader Srishti Mathur was honored at the Evergreen State Fair by Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon and Allied Waste Services for her essay about renewable energy and sustainable living practices.
Students were invited by Reardon and Allied Waste Services to write about the steps they could take to improve renewable energy and sustainability practices in Washington and discuss the growing need to be environmentally friendly. Divided into two age categories, six winners were chosen and invited to opening-day ceremonies at the fair last month. Mathur won the middle-school division of the competition.
“Contestants wrote very thoughtful essays on how we can improve our conservation measures and sustainable living practices,” Reardon said. “These young women and men are tomorrow’s leaders, and with such bright minds among them, I’m confident we’re in good hands.”
“The city of Bothell is proud of Srishti Mathur and her thoughtful essay on Living Evergreen,” said Bothell Mayor Mark Lamb. “Srishti represents the very best spirit of the young people of Bothell by articulating both her concern for our natural environment and practical ideas about how to protect and enhance it. I congratulate her on this impressive achievement.”
Reardon invited a panel of distinguished judges to join him, including Neal Pattison, managing editor of The Daily Herald; State Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, currently a candidate for U.S. Congress; Troy McClelland, President and CEO of the recently launched Economic Alliance Snohomish County; and Joe Casalini, development director for Allied Waste Services.
The contest was underwritten by Allied Waste Services, the regional leader in recycling and other sustainable waste recovery solutions. Snohomish County has partnered with Allied for two decades in supporting the Roosevelt Regional Gas-Recovery Facility, which converts household trash into electricity that feeds Snohomish County’s energy system.
“These students wrote straight from the heart,” said Joe Casalini of Allied Waste Services. “Washington’s future in renewable energies is something they truly think about and incorporate into their lives every day. It validates everything we do to promote green living to see our youth with such thoughtfulness about our environment.”
All winners were invited to the Evergreen State Fair’s opening ceremonies with their families. First-place winners received a $200 U.S. treasury bond and will have an opportunity to participate at the Snohomish County Council as the recognized “County Environmentalist For-A-Day,” where they can read their essays before the county’s elected leadership. Second-place winners received $100 bonds and third-place winners received $50.
Here is Mathur’s essay:
When I was younger, green used to be just another color of the rainbow. Now, I know that green means something much more: it’s the color of the beautiful state of Washington. Whether it’s the dark, earthy green of the towering coniferous trees or the stunning sea green of Puget Sound, green is everywhere, and it needs to stay. People everywhere in the state, including myself, can make small changes in their lifestyles that will help positively impact the environment, support renewable energies, and strengthen communities in a big way. Some of the best ways to accomplish this are to use energy-efficient appliances, carpool, and of course, recycle.
One way communities can become “greener” is by using more energy-efficient machines. Outdoor lighting, for example, can be powered through small solar panels that are available at most hardware stores. Users will see that their energy bills will go down, saving them money and helping the environment stay pristine. The small solar panels also last for years, saving users lots of money they would spend on energy bills. If a whole entire community switches from conventional outdoor lighting to solar powered outdoor lighting, the environment will be positively impacted because there will be no waste. Solar energy doesn’t give off any waste, so it will keep our forest ecosystems clean and healthy. Solar energy is a renewable source of energy and is effective in powering small devices such as outdoor lighting, so it would be a great choice for people looking to save money and help the environment.
Another energy-efficient machine is a bicycle. It uses kinetic energy and gets people to the places they need to be. Washington has numerous bike trails, bike lanes on roads, and bicycle retailers, so biking is an effective way to stay green, save money on gas, and stay fit. If multiple people bike together as a group, it builds community skills because they would need to talk to each other to stay safe and to make sure they know where to go. Talking leads to wonderful shared memories that can last a lifetime and it can happen while saving the environment on a bike.
Carpooling is an additional way to build community skills and help the environment. Reducing the number of cars on the road can reduce the amount of emissions given off by cars. Riding in electric cars is a good choice because they don’t give off any emissions at all. The electricity that electric cars in Washington are powered from comes through rivers. I learned this when my family took a trip to the Grand Coulee Dam. Hydroelectric power is renewable energy and can greatly help the planet. Carpooling is a great way to get places that are far away because not only will you save money and gas, but you will also create special memories through talking, singing, playing games, and relaxing while on the road. It also will teach the driver to be careful because of the number of people in the car. Carpooling also gets people to places faster because it is then possible to use the H.O.V. lane on the highway, minimizing traffic and saving even more gas.
Riding the bus is another form of carpooling. It is a cheap way to get to places fast and easily. SoundTransit has created bus routes that “carefully consider environmental impacts and protection when designing the transit system” and “lessen the impacts of construction by providing mitigation for sensitive ecosystems”. SoundTransit also estimated that riders saved over nine million gallons of fuel and over fourteen million hours driving in traffic by taking the bus. (SoundTransit.com). If entire communities begin riding the bus to places, Washington can save even more on energy.
When most people think of recycling, they think of tossing newspapers. While this is a start, much more needs to be done to effectively save the earth. A simple way to start in communities is to save all aluminum cans. Instead of throwing them in the trash or recycle bin, people can start collecting them as a community and then carpooling to a recycling center to recycle them. This is because most recycling centers will pay you if you bring cans. (Earth911.com). The money that is earned from the cans could be put into things that could improve communities, like trees from a nursery. Planting the trees would be a fun community experience and it would help save the planet.
Recycling doesn’t just have to be in the green bins, though. Holding a garage sale is a form of recycling also because what may be your own trash can become someone else’s treasure. Garage sales are also greener than shopping at normal stores because there is no need to use any fancy lighting or computers, saving you energy and helping to get rid of things that you don’t need anymore. Community garage sales are especially nice because you don’t even need to get into your car to check out items; you can just walk to a neighbor’s house to look for things that might be interesting. The money earned from each house can be pooled to buy something that will benefit the whole community, such as a new picnic table or more trees. Garage sales are a tradition that promote recycling and can be a fun experience for anyone looking to save money and the earth.
Green doesn’t just have to be a color anymore. It can be a whole new way to look at life. Buying better appliances, carpooling, and recycling are just a few ways to get started on using renewable energy and promoting healthy ecosystems. Washington needs to remain the Evergreen State, not just for us, but so that our younger generations can see the brilliant green, hear the mysterious sounds of the forest, and breathe in the fresh air. It starts with one change, a change that will start by us.
