On a recent Saturday morning, I noticed our neighbor setting up two folding tables in her front yard. She arranged a collection of tiny items and a pitcher on their surfaces and hung what looked like a line of clothing between them, then taped several signs I couldn’t yet read to the table’s edges. After surveying the situation and looking satisfied, she sat down to wait for business.

Emma is nine, and she’s an environmentalist. She’d like to see a more eco-friendly planet, where people walk more and drive less, where we waste less and do more to care for the Earth. Emma is concerned about the future, and she’s doing something about it.

It’s hard to say when and where it started. Growing up in Vermont has given Emma a rich appreciation of the natural world. She and her family spend time camping, hiking, connecting with bugs and animals, and swimming in Vermont’s clear high lakes. Emma loves summer mountain biking and winter skiing. All of this inspires her to help preserve nature and stop climate change.

Bristol Elementary School, where Emma finished third grade in June, also nurtures her interest in nature. BES has a “Forest Friday” program and outdoor learning spaces in the woods across the street. Her 2nd grade teacher made regular use of this outdoor classroom. Emma enjoyed all that time in nature. It was an important part of her journey in becoming an advocate for the planet.

Each year on Earth Day BES students don work gloves and fan out around Bristol Village to pick up trash. Concerned about the area around her school, Emma started a small club to collect rubbish on the playground at the end of every recess. She’s noticed that no matter how much litter is gathered, there’s always more, and it hurts the planet. She’s concerned about how long it takes some of this stuff to decompose.

What may have firmed up Emma’s commitment was a project she completed in second grade. They were researching famous people for a living wax museum, and she chose to learn about Swedish political activist Greta Thunberg. Emma was inspired by Thunberg’s commitment to a healthier plant.

“She stayed strong and, like, never stopped working hard for the environment.”

Emma encourages her family to purchase local, eco-friendly products, items that don’t harm any ecosystems and will decompose, so they don’t add to the endless pile of human-made stuff cluttering our environment. She makes the things she needs by hand when she can from the materials she has on hand — earrings, artwork, her environmental messages and announcements for fundraisers.

She also raises funds for environmental causes. Emma currently sends all the money she raises to the Northeast Wilderness Trust (NEWT), whose mission is “to conserve forever-wild landscapes for Nature and people.” NEWT presently safeguards over 98,000 wild acres across New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

Emma carried out research before landing on this organization.

“My neighbor who did a lot of environmental work recommended that one as a good one,” she explains.

Emma and her neighbor often discuss environmental issues. He has become a mentor of sorts.

Over the past two years Emma has worked towards her goal of raising $200 for NEWT. She has sold lemonade, freshly baked cookies, seashells she’s gathered on family trips, polished stones and rock crystals and even her own gently used clothing. Last Christmas, Emma requested donations as holiday gifts, all of which she donated.

But her favorite Christmas present was a handmade protest sign from her Uncle, with a wooden handle and a dry-erase message board. She writes and re-writes political messages on it, routinely parading up and down the street or to the village green shouting her slogans.

Once I made it across the street, I saw the handmade signs posted at Emma’s fundraiser included such mottos as No More Pollution, Give Us Peace, and (my favorite) Cool Earth Down accompanied by an animated planet declaring, “Yeah, make me cool again.”

Emma wants to spread awareness about the environment to the younger generation.

“Because a lot of kids don’t know what is happening, so I kind of want littler kids to start learning about that stuff in a more kid-friendly way.”

She’s already mentoring Charlotte, a five-year-old neighbor who showed up to help at Emma’s recent fundraiser.

Emma has visions for how to spread the word.

“I’ve been trying to get a camp going, like a tiny one to just, like, pick up litter and go on hikes and do stuff in nature.”

When Emma gets older she wants to influence the next generation to care more for our planet — and by this she means the generation after hers. She’d like to see kids reading and learning more about the environment in school as well.

“[I’d like to] start my own organization and…make Vermont a lot more aware.” She plans to spearhead environmental protests as well.

At her front-yard fundraiser Emma raised $85, surpassing her two-year goal by several dollars six months ahead of schedule. So, she’s raising the stakes higher — she wants to reach her next fundraising goal in just one year. If you happen upon one of Emma’s events, or if you see her processing around town chanting one of her slogans, hop on board and join her movement. Likewise, if you’re inspired to pitch in, she welcomes donations via Venmo @Miche-Steele. Include a note saying, “Emma Fundraiser.”

With young people like Emma leading the way, we’ll keep Vermont from floating downstream.

Alice Leeds, of Bristol, taught in a variety of private and public schools and colleges for forty years. Presently retired, she tries to engage in some useful endeavor each day. She enjoys hearing from readers at [email protected].