March 2009

“No Matter Your Age, You Can Make a Difference”
One eco-savvy 5th grader is proving that everyone can make the world greener.

By Andrea Fox, Ms. Green Quick Fixes

For Colin Caton, aka “The Ecosavvy Kid,” passion is the most important aspect of protecting the environment. Recycling is great, but it doesn’t equate to zeal, he noted. It’s activists that “talk and talk that help the environment.”

What started with a PODcast and a blog has become a Web site through which Colin, a 5th grader at Forestdale Elementary in Sandwich, Mass., addresses environmentalism and hopes to inform his peers and others.

Whether it’s through his monthly column, posting information about events he has participated in, and offering important green living information like his Earth Day 2008 PDF handout, Easy Ways to Green Your Life, Ecosavvykid.com talks about how kids can help keep Earth clean.

Colin has worked on beach clean-ups and an environmental awareness drive by a local grocery store, and is getting comfortable speaking before groups of children. He said one of his greatest achievements was when Orleans Elementary School invited him to come and speak. He read the smaller children the Berenstain Bears Don’t Pollute (Anymore) and showed PowerPoint slides that describe what kids can do to improve the environment. “Everyone was smiling at me,” he said.

The Ecosavvy Kid has had additional requests to present before other schools and is looking forward to promoting his Web site. Colin incorporates elements of his daily life into the site, which has become a resource for peers with one Chatham, Mass. teacher recommending Ecosavvykid.com as a reference for a 7th grade student class assignment.

Colin said ideas for his writing often come from what family may be doing at home. “I think about what’s going on,” he said. For example, inspired by the family’s gardening project he decided to write a whole article on how families can grow their own food and avoid commercial pesticides. It “scares you to think how much they put on,” he added.

Colin’s mom, Laura, said that her son’s enthusiasm for environmentalism began when he became distressed about beach trash, wrote a letter to the Cape Cod Times about respecting the environment, and saw his words in print. “He didn’t know he could do that,” said Laura. 

Laura, who assists with editing, tech support, and marketing for the Web site, said that working on Ecosavvykid.com has helped Colin with writing skills. She shares green living information regularly with both of her children, and noted that Colin is very motivated to learn more about protecting the environment. “He reads non-stop,” she said.

He also enjoys his fair share of video games, too, Laura reported. She only has to tell Colin to stop Nintendo once, but recently had to ask him five times to come in from the bird feeder when he was no doubt working on February’s column, My View: Feb. ’09: The Birds http://www.ecosavvykid.com/Info.html. Colin, a nature devotee, said he is okay with his video time being up. “I’m glad because I can run around,” he said.

The Ecosavvy Kid is currently sharpening his journalism skills having recently interviewed a sales representative from Solar Works, now Alterra, about the company’s solar panel products. “Interviewing is the new cool for information lovers,” Colin said.

As for the future, Colin is overjoyed with his Web site’s success and plans to continue his work. “Probably by the time I’m 40, I’ll be the Eco-Savvy Man,” he said.

Keep up the good work Colin! And congratulations to mom Laura for passing on the green practices that improve Massachusetts!

To read or write about your family’s greening experiences, check out the Girls Gone Green blog postings about this article