Scientists are still trying to think of
ways to reduce air pollution, but scientists aren’t the only ones who can make a
difference. You can make a difference whether you’re an adult or child.
For example, a group of 11 year olds from Tenakill School in Closter, New Jersey had been
studying First Amendment rights. One day their teacher told them to watch TV and read the
newspaper and to come back with a serious issue. When they came back they were angry about
the air pollution in their state. Then somebody said, "Lets do something". The
next day they started a group to fight against air pollution. They named themselves the
KAP which stands for Kids Against Pollution. Next they decided to learn everything they
could about the problem with air pollution. After that they started to write letters to
newspapers telling people to recycle and to help try to ban CFCs which is a gas in things
like refrigerators, fire extinguishers, air conditioners and many other things. They also
sent letters to every school in the county asking them to join there fight against air
pollution. They also organized a letter to the governors of New Jersey, and New York. Even
though they didn’t get encouraging replies that didn’t stop them from fighting
against air pollution so they kept writing. The kids knew that CFCs were released when
Styrofoam is thrown away so they asked their school district to ban its use and the school
board agreed to band its use, so did the council of Closter. Even though Styrofoam
suppliers fought back, KAP went on to make presentations all the way to the EPA hearing in
Washington D.C. Now many people knew about KAP and soon there were 800 KAP groups in the
United States and the KAP idea spread to other countries in the world. KAP members were
interviewed on TV and some members were asked to give speeches all over the country as
well as receiving many awards from governors and even the president of the United States.
So now you see that not only scientists, or adults can make the difference.
