b"Reducing Plastic at the School LevelIt started with two fifth gradersBY ELLEN DONKERL to R: Sylvie Brown and Aryana Pimplaskar (with Aryana's dog) prefer using their reusable water bottles instead of plastic.A ryana Pimplaskar and Syl- they wont buy them at school and they might just vieBrownarefifthgrad- use water fountains instead. So basically, its like a ersatDeliaBoldenEl- tiny boycott.ementarySchool.TheyThe duo are hoping to continue growing aware-metlastyearandbecameness of Natures Heroes mission when school starts fastfriends,bondingoveragain in September, but by then theyll be at differ-videogames.Nowtheirent places: Aryana at Maplewood Middle School friendship has grown over another shared interest:and Sylvie at South Orange Middle School. We eliminating plastic water bottles from their schoolmightstartclubsinourseparateschools,says and, eventually, all schools in the South Orange- Aryana. and then meet up at a park and do park Maplewood district. cleanups. This year, our teacher, Miss Altieri, made usFor more information about Natures Heroes, pick three topics for our research-based argumentvisit naturesheroes.life. essays, and we both picked plastic bottles, saysEllen Donker looks forward to seeing the difference Aryana. So we got to research a lot about them.Nature's Heroes can make in promoting reusable wa-After we finished, I came up with an idea to maketer bottles.a stand against them. When Sylvie heard aboutthere will still be tiny little particles that seep in turning their research into action, she was all in.through the soil, then get into our water supply and CallingtheircauseNaturesHeroes,Aryanathen that will contaminate our water. Ultimately, says the name came about because were trying tothey hope the lack of demand for plastic water bot-save nature and were trying to help nature. Andtles will lead the schools to stop selling them.if you look at superheroes, theyre trying to saveThe girls decided that the best way to bring at-the world.tention to their stand was to conduct a peaceful Sylvie says that instead of students buying wa- march, slated to start on June 19 at 1:30 p.m. at ter bottles at school, whereDelia Bolden Elementary School and end at the they sell for $1, wereMaplewood Municipal Building. The first thing, tellingthemtotryhonestly, is raising awareness, says Sylvie. To get touserefillablethe word out, the girls set up a booth at Mayfest on waterbottles,orSpringfield Avenue on May 18. They succeeded in theboxedwaterpublicizing the event and getting 150 people to sign or the aluminumup as volunteers for the march and future efforts. cans,becauseAt school, the girls are hoping to make presen-those are actuallytations to convince their classmates to ditch plastic reusable.Aryanabottles. Its going to be about how plastic water adds, Otherwise,bottles are bad for you, and you shouldnt drink Aryana and Sylvie have buttonsAryana and Sylvie at their booth at Mayfest. They and tote bags to help spreadplasticitll de- from them and you shouldnt use them, says Ary- garnered 150 signatures from people who want to the word about Nature's Heroes. compose,butana. That might persuade them to stop. And thenhelp Nature's Heroes.feature story /23"