Climate change camp encourages kids to go green
Local students learn about recycling, carbon footprints
It might be summer, but Varshaa Selvaraj, didn’t take last week off from learning.
The 10-year-old Jefferson Elementary student had fun learning about global warming, and how it impacts animals and humans.
She studied leatherback sea turtles as part of a four-day camp focused on climate change at the Emmaus Public Library last week. The program, created by retired educators who are part of the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, aims to help young children reduce their carbon footprint.
Varshaa can easily explain the threat climate change poses to the turtles: The rising sea washes their eggs away from the shore, and rising temperatures result in more females than males.
“It’s a big problem because they can’t find mates,” she said.
The nine students in the program had a busy week at the Emmaus Public Library. On Wednesday, they learned about composting and reusing recyclable materials before throwing them in the recycling bin. They also decorated canvas bags reading “climate change affects me, too” to use in lieu of plastic.
Now that she’s learned more about the environment, Varshaa plans to plant more trees, use less water and try to recycle, and reuse more items. She also plans to bike and walk more.
This is the camp’s first year, and organizers hope the program can be replicated for other children.
“We feel education on climate change can’t some soon enough, and the more children exposed the better,” said Jessie Snyder, one of the organizers. The children who attended the camp on Wednesday ranged in age from 4 to 12.
The students brought recyclables to class and talked about how to reuse them.
One student suggested cutting the top off a water bottle to turn it into a pencil holder. Another suggested using a Pringles can as a pencil carrier.
Vikashni Selaraj, 4, proudly announced she’d seen a green bottle on the ground and put it into a recycling bin.
Learning how to make change is part of the program.
Jefferson Elementary student Aven Garrison, 6, already has something in mind. He gets frustrated a lot when he’s playing video games and will leave the game on after he’s done. Now he’ll turn it off.
“It won’t use a lot of electricity,” he said.