Cory Coots, Angel Hill, Ellie Hogg, Jade Slone & Jarrod Stamper

Whitesburg, Ky. “Before It’s Too Late,” a short film produced this past summer, investigates water quality in Letcher County, Ky. The five youth involved in the project spoke with locals and other experts, uncovering critical information about water pollution. Every year, media nonprofit Applashop brings Appalachian high schoolers to Whitesburg, Ky., to gain media skills…

Read More

Ashley Phykitt

Charlotte, N.C. Two years ago, an article in Charlotte Magazine detailed a day in the life of former Catawba Riverkeeper David Merryman and his battles to keep the river clean from coal ash. When Ashley Phykitt, then a 10-year-old, read the article, she was so inspired that she just had to get involved. Ashley met…

Read More

Birke Baehr

Knoxville, Tenn. When 13-year-old Birke Baehr says he wants to be a farmer, he is only telling half of the truth — he also wants to change the way the world farms. A homeschooler from Knoxville, Tenn., Birke is devoted to teaching kids and adults about the problems in America’s industrialized food system and the…

Read More

Bailey Wells, Tristan Ginter and the West Carter Middle School Science Club

Olive Hill, Ky. From a distance, the 10 by 14-foot structure behind West Carter Middle School in Carter County, Ky., looks like a futuristic laboratory. But closer examination reveals a deceptively simple greenhouse. Inspired by the internet, funded by a grant from nonprofit youth organization Earth Force, and initiated by a student-led soda bottle collection,…

Read More

Daniela Berry

Lenoir, N.C. For 13-year-old Daniela Berry, the arrival of fall means it’s time to transition to cool-weather crops such as radishes and kale. But Daniela’s after-school gardening isn’t just for her own dinner table— she organizes her county’s 4-H Plant a Row for the Hungry, a community service group that encourages gardeners to share the…

Read More

Olivia Stegall

Butler, Tenn. Since she was four years old, Olivia Stegall has been working to end mountaintop removal coal mining. Her first foray into advocacy was in 2006, when she traveled with her mother to Washington, D.C., to lobby members of Congress to end the practice. Now almost 10, Olivia has talked personally with dozens of…

Read More

Ben Stockdale

Columbus, N.C. When Ben Stockdale, an 18-year-old high school senior from Polk County, N.C., saw the low-flush toilet handles at Appalachian State University, he knew he had an opportunity that he couldn’t waste. In August 2011, Ben and Polk County High School’s student-led “Green Team” wanted to install the same low-flush toilet handles at their…

Read More

Chloe and Elijah Rose

Clay, W.Va. Chloe Rose, age eight, wants recycling bins on the streets of her town, and she wants the trash pickup at the newspaper her mother works at to include paper recycling. Those are big changes for a third-grader to tackle, but Chloe, a soon-to-be published author, plans to donate proceeds from the children’s book…

Read More

Organizational Round-Up

Showing Some Clean Water Love On October 18, shortly after we go to press, the Clean Water Act will turn 40 years old. In conjunction with that anniversary, our Red, White & Water team is putting together a report on the successes of the long-standing program, complete with personal stories of residents and communities who…

Read More