Name: Amy Weitzman
From: Yorba Linda, CA
Grade: 11th
School: Yorba Linda High School
Votes: 0 
Crash.
Cool, salty ocean spray kisses my cheeks. Bright sunlight caresses my
fair skin. Seagulls call, gliding through the air, resting on the
jagged rocks. Too bad this wondrous environment is suffering due to
the reckless of humans.
Bending
down, I collect another cigarette butt. My goal? To carry out the
motto of an organization I once volunteered for: Zero Trash.
Squealing,
children play in the water, splashing each other and building sand
castles. Their smiling faces give me motivation to continue my work.
Smooth sand beneath my toes, I advance along the beach, picking up
trash.
The
Earth’s water is limited. It may travel through the water cycle,
changing its form, but it is always the same water; the same water
that dinosaurs drank; the same water that Cleopatra drank. However,
pollution and trash damage water and wildlife habitats in the ocean.
Plastic bottles suffocate fish. Bags trap sea animals. If humans
continue to destroy these marine habitats, what will happen to our
water supply? Although water is essential to life, people do not seem
to care that much to preserve it.
That’s
why I have volunteered over 100 hours with my high school Key Club
over the past four years. Even though just a few of us are cleaning
up the beach, it makes a huge difference. Not only am I preserving
water for myself and my community, but I am also preserving it for
those in other states, other countries, other continents. Water
follows a cycle; by preserving its quality here, we preserve its
quality everywhere. I may be just a drop, but I can make a ripple.
