When the city council of El Segundo, Calif.,
announced that it would not support a city curbside recycling
program, the Treemusketeers sprang into action. This environmental
organization of young people, 10 to 14 years old, surveyed
residents, contacted the city waste-hauler and then devised a
subscription-based recycling program. Residents now can pay a
waste-hauler $6 a month to have cans and bottles recycled from
their doorsteps. Tara Church, 20, current director of
Treemusketeers, co-founded the Treemusketeers with 12 other Girl
Scouts, who were only 8 years old. “We wanted to do something to
help the planet, so we planted a tree,” says Church. Since 1987,
Treemusketeers has boomed and is now run by some 100 local student
volunteers. Members are working on their first national program: a
“one in a million” campaign that aims to have 1 million kids plant
1 million trees before the year 2000. “So far, it’s been hugely
successful,” says Church. “Our registration is already at about
300,000 kids.”
Treemusketeers can be contacted
at 36 Main St., Suite A, El Segundo, CA 90245 (800/473-0263) or
e-mail treemsktrs@aol.com.
* Rebecca
Clarren
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Three cheers for the Treemusketeers.
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