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As an art and nature lover, Arielle H., a sixth grader at La Entrada Middle School, created a poster depicting ways people can be more “green.” Arielle’s poster, titled, “What can YOU do to help the environment?” won first place in the middle school category of ReThinkWaste’s 2024 poster contest.
The theme of the contest was “My Green Routine,” encouraging students to create posters that illustrate their daily practices in helping the environment. RethinkWaste received 90 submissions representing 24 schools across San Mateo County.
Arielle’s detailed poster shows people to avoid gas-powered vehicles, conserve electricity and water, and dispose of trash in the correct bins. Arielle said she loves animals and is aware that environmental harms also impact living creatures. That inspired her to come up with ideas on how to help the Earth. She also drew inspiration from her parents’ routines at home as well as habits she’s learned on her own, including recycling and composting.
Living in California, a state prone to droughts, Arielle said her parents have taught her the importance of conserving water and it’s become a practice she’s adopted as well. To avoid air pollution, Arielle walks to school and says her parents drive electric vehicles.
“I realized that gas was polluting the environment, it’s heating the environment and it’s generally a bad source of energy,” she said.
Arielle was excited to enter RethinkWaste’s poster contest particularly because the theme invited the idea of helping the Earth. In just two weeks, she created a rough draft of her poster idea, drew, colored and submitted it for the contest.
“[Art] is something I’m naturally good at and it’s meditative for me because it calms me down and it helps me express my feelings, like how I expressed my feelings toward helping the Earth with this poster,” Arielle said.
Arielle owns two guinea pigs and uses her creativity and conservation skills by repurposing boxes from online shipments as hideaways for her pets. She gives the boxes “another life” for her guinea pigs to enjoy before they get recycled, she said.
On Dec. 17, Arielle was recognized by the Menlo Park City Council for her first place award. Her artwork will also be featured on the side of Recology collection trucks, one of which will be coming to La Entrada on Jan. 21.
Arielle said she looks forward to entering more art contests in the near future.
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