Just in time for Earth Day, the Southold Town board got a lesson yesterday in how scores of students in local schools are working tirelessly to protect the environment.
At the board’s work session yesterday, students from Greenport, Southold and Mattituck schools, who comprise the town’s Youth Advisory Council, turned out with Southold’s special projects coordinator Phillip Beltz to share their environmental initiatives and planned Earth Day activities.
“We wanted to present an overall plan for the schools, the town and community,” Beltz said.
In Greenport, students watched a film about the environment and were encouraged to sign a pledge, first steps toward students getting involved in a more sustainable community, students said.
Kids viewed “The Marion Lake Story: Defeating the Mighty Phragmite,” which centers on how a community came together to tackle an invasive species.
Long term, Greenport students hope to promote a more sustainable school, with recycling, composting and other initiatives, with an eye toward increasing environmental education in schools.
The goal, students said, is to “make Earth Day not just a day” but a lifestyle, with young people of all ages participating and helping to make the community more sustainable.
“Kids can feel like they have a voice, that they can make a difference in the community,” one student said, instilling responsibility for the world and planet from the earliest age.
The film is accompanied by information about the Water Advocates, Volunteers, Enthusiasts & Students, or WAVES, campaign, a tool which helps kids to map their progress online and to encourage, map, and connect volunteer initiatives.
Down the line, students said they hope to extend what they’ve learned and lend their voices to local policy decisions on issues such as the single use plastic bag ban.
Beltz said Melvyn Morris of Brookhaven National Laboratory has also been working with students on initiatives.
In Southold schools, students have viewed the film “No Impact Man: The Documentary”, which chronicles the efforts of Colin Beavan’s New York City family to reduce their impact on the environment by reducing their consumption of outside materials and ultimately live without electricity.
The film has a local tie, Beltz said, Beavan’s parents live in Southold.
For the younger children, composting is planned for the elementary school, since the garden exists there already. In addition, a no-impact themed art contest is planned for grades 5 and 6. Students said Southold, since it was established, has had conservation as its “core value”, with no suburban sprawl. The goal is to continue to introduce conservation techniques such as recycling to remain true to those values, students said.
Students are working to introduce recycling in Southold junior and senior high schools, they said, with recycling bins in the hallways so kids can appreciate how they can help the environment.
“You’re covering all the bases. It’s very impressive,” said Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell.
In Mattituck schools, students in grades 5 and 6 are also participating in an art contest focused on recycled materials. They are also learning about how plastic impacts the environment and signing no-impact pledges. A Ride Your Bike to School Day is also in the works.
“We’re trying to raise awareness because we live in such a beautiful place,” one student said.
At Cutchogue East Elementary, students worked with representatives from Cornell earlier this year on restoration of eelgrass.
“I want to thank all the kids. This was very impressive, and if you choose someday to sit around this table, the town will be in very good shape,” Russell said.
Later last night at the town board meeting, North Fork Environmental Council president Bill Toedter had tears in his eyes as he spoke of the students’ presentation and dedication to conservation.
He commended the town board and Beltz for all the work that goes on to create such initiatives. “Those young men and women from local schools, speaking to you about their ideas on how to make things better —I think you guys do a great job and should be respected for all you do.”
