We love groups that think the best hope for our planet’s future is reaching out to young people. The youth environmental organization Action for Nature is one such group. In fact, each year they celebrate young “Eco-Heroes” in order to prove that you’re never too young to start making a difference. They recently announced these young activists as the winners of its 2010 International Young Eco-Hero Awards.
The work that kids are doing is awe-inspiring and Action for Nature shines the spotlight on them. There are numerous examples of the great work that kids are able to accomplish in their book and on their website, www.actionfornature.org , but here are a few to give you a sense of what can be done. One 15-year-old girl, named Sarah, thought that her Texas community could use a nature center. So she built one — herself. Eleven-year-old Liam made a community garden in Colorado, and 10-year-old Sarah turned her lemonade stand into a fundraiser for environmental non-profits. And Otis, at 12 years of age, helped plant over a million trees.
To check out the kids who were recently honored, click here:
http://www.actionfornature.org/eco-hero-awards/past-winners/2010-winners
http://www.actionfornature.org/afnnews/2011/03/26/see-our-award-winners-on-youtube
The awards are just one way this environmental non-profit fulfills its mission of “encouraging young people to take personal action to better their environments, and to foster love and respect for nature.” Action for Nature started after its founder, Shimon Schwarzschild, was visiting Italy in the early 1980’s, and saw the need to rescue songbirds there that were being over-hunted. He teamed up with others and through the wellspring of support from adults and children, these environmental activists succeeded in protecting the birds. It was following this success that he started what ultimately became Action for Nature, an organization whose mission is to encourage young people of all ages to get involved in meaningful ways and “act for nature”.
