Appoquinimink High School, 12th grade

Currently, Delaware is experiencing a time of environmental recession. It is taking on more and more pollution every day and it has shown no sign of stopping. Recently, as I have gone to school, there are streets and corners that are covered in trash, sometimes right by streams or other bodies of water. As I have grown, I have noticed many forests and farmlands being disposed of for more housing units, which has caused more businesses, restaurants, and supermarkets to open up and expand onto more land, destroying the wildlife within it. Yet, I have seen no one speak up about it. Many are in denial or acceptance with the environmental damage this expansion has caused. Should this continue, I can easily see Delaware becoming a state plagued by its lack of environmental wellbeing. Should this continue, I would not feel comfortable letting the people I care about live in Delaware. That is why things must change, and change soon. The youth of Delaware play an important role in its future, being the backbone of the present, and the examples of what is to come. To truly change and save the future of Delaware, it is important to start with people who will have to deal with the consequences of any environmental inaction. Should the youth not understand these consequences, they will continue onwards towards a dark future. Therefore, the first step should be to get informed, and to know the threat that Delaware is dealing with. Simply telling kids to look it up on google will do nothing, so instead, attempts should be made to directly show them what is happening to the State they live in. There are plenty of organizations out there that could provide assistance with this step. After becoming informed, it is important to set a baseline of what action must be taken to improve the environmental health of Delaware. The next step would be to improve the easy, hands-on aspects of environmental assistance. Activities and organizations like Adopt a Highway are perfect for this type of thing, and I could see clubs being formed in my school and others for these activities. Anything that could help like offering to assist in public park service or starting fundraisers for environmental science/health organizations could be potential activities for these clubs. However, these things would likely only prolong the environmental decline of our state rather than act to prevent it. That is why the next step would be actual prevention attempts. Changes that could be implemented to help strive for a cleaner future. I know that many homeowners have been adopting solar panels to help with a change for clean, renewable energy, as well as projects like the wind turbine created by UD. More pushes towards changes like these could do a lot towards creating that cleaner future for Delaware. Not only that, but attempts could even be made for reaching Delaware State government officials, with support of the schools that the kids attend. Helping to collectively influence and State environmental policies and decisions would do a lot. Additionally, I know many people, myself included, are reaching an age where we can vote for government changes and decisions. Becoming informed of Candidates decisions and hopes for the future, and then voting based on how to best support the environmental wellbeing of Delaware could do a lot for our State’s future. Now, what I have described is only an outline, but with efforts made to start an environmental support club, as well as generally inform the students of my school about the issues our future is facing, I hope that the youth of my generation can work towards a future Delaware we can be happy living in.