Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

My name is Jessica, I am a senior in high school and for the past 4 years I have been the president of my high school's Ecology Club. Not only am I president but I am a dedicated member, and the environment and wildlife are my passion. In My freshman year we initiated a recycling program here at my high school. We worked all year on fundraising to get enough money to start the program, with the money from our club we bought recycling bins to be put in the classrooms. Now in my senior year I am proud to say that every single classroom on campus has one, a total of about 160 classrooms! Even though the recycling program is relatively new to our school, and it is difficult to get students to think something new I still feel like there is improvement in that with a bin in every classroom the students are more willing to recycle because of the convenience. Sometimes getting an idea to spread is a challenge, and what we want is not always what everyone else can agree to, but when something is done for the better, most people will go along with it. It is the idea of not only is â€œgoing greenâ€ a new trend, but an entirely new lifestyle for many new and unexpected people. All I can hope for is that this lifestyle sticks with the few who embrace it now, and branches out from there.
Every year not only has our Ecology Club done many projects away from the school (in the greater community), but we try to consistently at least once a semester pick up the area directly surrounding our high school. Behind our high school's tennis courts there is a desert area with people always walking through it, along with dirt bikes and such. We have gone out to that desert many a time to pick up all of the trash, sport's balls, etc.. that accumulate there. Even though this patch of desert is not very large (less than 5 acres) there are still native animals there that we hope to protect and keep from harm by keeping trash out of their natural habitats. Although most of the wildlife in the desert area is small, like cottontail rabbits, lizards, quail, roadrunners, and burrowing owls, they are just as important to protect. Even though it wasnâ€™t members of our Club that put the trash in the desert, we take responsibility for the irresponsible people in our community, and take the initiative to do what they wonâ€™t: protect the environment.
Although trash may not be as harmful to the human community as it is to the animals, it still benefits our community to be trash-free. No one enjoys seeing a natural environment filled with garbage, especially on their walks around the neighborhood. Seeing the drastic change of garbage strewn everywhere across the desert, to seeing it neat and tidy, is extraordinarily amazing. I love the feeling I get every time our group finishes any version community service, but especially when the change may not be noticed by people, but where the animals benefit greatly. This precise feeling is what keeps me going in the future to want to make a difference; it inspires me to try harder in everything I do. It also pushes me to encourage others to participate in the same type of projects, and feel the benefits within them as they do.