Inspirational Scholarship Applications

"I have taught my two boys to recycle our cans and plastic bottles, and to keep the water off while brushing teeth or cleaning. We also grow our own tomatoes and help with the neighbors garden with organic fertilizers. We eat mostly organic or green friendly food and use environmentally safe products. We lived without a car for 10 months and do without the excesses most people have. Our house is fully replaced with low-energy coil lightbulbs and we conserve energy in the home by minimizing utilities and maximizing weatherproofing. I also told them that I pledged as a little girl to 4H never to litter and always to help pick the trash up from others, and they now are doing the same. I try to buy locally grown from Farmer's Markets and ensure it is from farms that are environmentally aware. The biggest impact I think though is not on my boys, but the spread of knowledge to this community through friends that come over and really admire our little recycling bin and the good treats I serve that are not processed junk, I hope to make it more so at my college."

"Everyday I reduce the amount of paper I use. Instead of making a mistake on a paper than immediately crumbling it up and throwing it away I use white out or just simply scratch out the mistake and start over on the same piece pf paper. We also have bins at home were we separate garbage from the material that can be recycled. When my mother buys plastic cups we do not throw them away, we wash them out and reuse them. At school we have a recycle crew. Everyday they come to each classroom and pick up the recycled paper. This job helps to remind us not to think paper has to be thrown away, you can recycle it as easy. In my room I have to garbage cans. One of the cans is for the junk and another is my recycling can that helps a lot because if I mess up on a research paper or something I can easily just recycle the paper. "

"Although i never had a mother or father to set an example to keep our planet beautiful, however my guardians and i have always believed that it was our job as human beings living on this planet to keep it clean and find new resources to reuse the product we buy. Some of the ways my family had worked toward promoting a healthier environment is by reducing, reusing, and recylcing. As as family we all work together to reducing our consumption of water. This means we do less loads of laundry a day, take short showers instead of long baths, and even practice the idea that we don't need to have the water running while we brush our teeth. This has lowered our water bill greatly and im sure has helped mother nature as well. Some ways we are working to reuse is by making a compost pile. Whatever bidegradable scraps we have not already consumed we put into our compost pile. this is better for the invironment then placing it into landfills. a compost pile can be used as a natural fetilizer instead of those bought in stores which can harm our environment. Finally as a household we are dedicated to recycling as much as posssible. We have three large bins located all over our house. An plastic item that was used weather it be a milk jug or a laundry detergent jug is rinsed out and placed in the plastic bin. All plastic bag have been eliminated from our home and instead we used canvas bags that can be found at your local grocery store. We also recycle every aluminum can that we use as well, and take them into our local processing station. With these efforts me and my family hope to slowly have some effect on the ecosystem and while i attend college i plan on living the same ecofriendly lifestyle i live today, and hopefully adapting my roomates to the same lifstyle."

"I walk into the school cafeteria and sit down at my usual lunch table surrounded by my friends. The peculiar smell of the schools lunches served on Styrofoam trays wafts towards me, and makes me want to gag. I pull out my own lunch box and begin pulling out my tasty, made at home lunch portioned out in several reusable plastic containers. I've been doing this for years, and for as long as I can remember. Before it was cool to be eco-friendly, before it was glorified by magazines and the news, and even when it was a bit odd not to bring everything in throw-away plastic baggies. My family has always recycled, we firmly believe that if you can reuse it, then why waste it? The earth is our home, and we must keep it clean and free from excess garbage. We recycle when we can and I feel proud knowing that the earth will benefit from me doing it."

"Most families, like mine, but all their own recyclables into black bins and collect all their unwanted milk cartons, cans, bottle, etc, to be recycled. In tenth grade I became aware of a massive number of magazines entering our school, most which were immediately thrown out. Due to this huge waste, I decided to start magazine recycling program. Boxes were placed in the office and library for teachers to use when they received junk magazines they did not want or were tired of reading. Every other week my mom and I picked up the magazines and took them to be recycled. Now that I am a senior busy with school and college I have handed the recycling portion down to some younger grades. My plan in doing so was that the legacy continue and our school stays that tiny bit more environmentally aware."

"When I go grocery shopping the I buy "green" toilet paper. The milk jugs make good containers for storing water in the fridge and the plastic bags to hold groceries are great for lining trash cans. Outside my door is a recycling for my aluminum and cans that are along the street. My utily bills are very low because I use blankets to stay warm in winter and cold baths to stay cool in the summer. My cat helps eat table scraps and my CD players uses rechargeable batteries."

"The environment is deteriorating because of all the litter thrown on the ground and throwing harmful things in the landfill, like plastics that take years upon years to decompose entirely. I have made an effort to reduce my use of the land fill by creating a compost pile in my backyard. I throw all food scraps and products into this pile instead of the garbage can to be taken to the dump. This not only cuts back on waste products, but fertilizes the ground as well. When my family cooks too much food, we save the leftovers and often do not cook the next day, saving electricity. Lastly, I recycle all recyclable products including pop cans, bottles, plastic, and paper. Even though we no longer receive the recycling service, we often return all pop cans and bottles. There is also a recycling program through my dad's place of work, and our other items are recycled here. Overall, I think the environment is very important and I try to do my part by reducing, reusing, and recycling."