You may have heard the story of young environmental activist Greta Thunberg. She’s a 16-year-old student from Stockholm, Sweden, who began advocating for stronger action against global warming at the age of 15. And she has served as a role model for many youngsters around the world.
In another recent inspiring story of a youngster in the U.K. doing something positive for the world, 7-year-old Jessie Stephenson started her own initiative. She started a petition to “get Crayola to introduce felt tip pen recycling in the UK.”
Jessie loves to draw
Jessie has a passion for drawing, and she like to use Crayola felt tip coloring pens to draw with. However, she was upset to hear that Crayola had a recycling program for the pens in the U.S. but not in the U.K. So, the next logical step was to start a petition!
The petition was posted on change.org, and it began: “My name is Jessie and I am 7, and I want Crayola to let me recycle my felt tip pens in the UK like they do in America. I really love using Crayola pens, but I don’t want to now that I know the impact on the environment.”
Jessie also wrote a letter and drew a picture and sent it to Crayola. In the letter, she lets the company know about the petition she started and asks them to start a recycling program. She also included a picture with the title “Please save us” and various felt-tip markers that say, “Recycle me!” “Save the world.” And “Color without guilt!”
The petition gains steam
In the petition, Jessie also emphasizes the critical importance of taking care of the environment. She even shares the work her school is doing to help.
“I care about the environment because we live here, and if we wreck it, we won’t get a second chance. My school is brilliant and really cares about the environment because they took us to the Climate Change March in London last week. They also do an after school Climate Change club, and we get to do fun things like tell teachers off for not turning off the lights.
“I think if everyone tries to do something little, we can make a better world for us to live in.
“Please, Crayola will you introduce a pen recycling scheme in the UK, like you have in America. Then we can carry on coloring in without feeling guilty!”
The petition already has almost 70,000 signatures!
Response to petition is heartwarming
The response to Jessie’s petition offers support and encouragement. Here are a few reasons why people are supporting the petition:
- “It’s so important to make manufacturers and businesses realize we care and we want them to do something now.”
- “All companies should have a plan to recycle their disposable products.”
- “Because every little helps as we try to [roll] back the catastrophe caused by one-off use plastic.”
- “I want to give my support to this seven-year-old that cares about the environment.”
Charlotte Stephenson, Jessie’s mom, was very supportive of her daughter’s efforts, but she was still surprised at the response to the petition: “We never expected it go quite so crazy [but] Jessie is super keen on the climate change debate,” Charlotte said, according to Good News Network.
Proud members of the “Eco-Council”
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
Jessie and her brother, who is 10, are members of their school’s “Eco-Council.” And the Stephenson family also leads a green lifestyle and always try to recycle.
Jessie did hear back from Crayola about her request for a felt tip pen recycling program in the U.K. And the company said that they would assess her request. Jessie was hoping for a better response, however, saying, “Crayola said they would just talk about it, and that’s not enough for us. We’re not going to give up.”
To sign Jessie’s petition, click here.
