What Goes Around Comes Around

When teens strive for green karma, Do Something’s Melanie Stevenson makes it all happen.

(dosomething.org)

Melanie Stevenson peers her brown peepers around the doorframe of her modest corner office, keeping an eye on what is affectionately referred to as the “bull pen” – a noisy open space of slick granite carpeting, jumbled desks, and frantic interns. Sporting a neatly coiffed, coffee-colored ‘do and a constant smile, she pivots her petite frame towards a sizable, nondescript map hanging on the wall behind her. To spice it up, she has painstakingly stuck to it thirty metallic stars in patriotic colors.  Each star represents the hometown of a member of Do Something’s Youth Advisory Board, a motley crew of student activists Stevenson refers to as her right hand.

Pairing tan tweed pants with a fitted black v-neck and some chunky, ebony jewels, Stevenson, 24, has mastered youthful style. It is fitting then that she, as the Community Outreach Associate for Do Something, a New York-based, national youth activist organization, helps to provide resources for teens with big dreams. Though the organization offers an education in activism for any youngster with a wide-eyed vision, Stevenson’s focus is on those who think green.

Most recently, she headed the group’s second annual “Increase Your Green” competition, a partnership with National Grid that challenged middle school and high school students nationwide to construct a game plan to “greenify” their school. Eight winners were awarded grants ranging from $500 to $1500. Last year, 15 schools completed the challenge. This year, 400 schools applied and 45 were given the green light to single-handedly create sustainable schools, tripling the success rate. In addition, the number of environmental clubs registered with Do Something has nearly doubled in the last year.

Teen greening has gone global. In addition to Do Something, teens have joined a host of green initiatives, such as girl-power group Teens Turning Green, community-based Planet Green Schools, the global initiative Youth Venture, and the Energy Action Coalition, which has teamed up with Climate Challenge to educate teens on the effects of global warming. In a recent, national campaign for energy efficiency, Power Shift, a collection of 50 environmental clubs belonging to the Coalition, was active on 300 campuses with nearly 300,000 young participants. Still, these teens are hungry for more.

This overwhelming increase in eco interest among young adults signals a new generation of treehuggers. Gone are the poster children of Birkenstocks, Rastafarian locks, and an appreciation for all things psychedelic. These modern day hippies exchange face time for Facebook and gossip for Gossip Girl. Their version of Woodstock is a Jonas Brothers concert. Many do not have their licenses—many have yet to be kissed. Still, Stevenson says that particularly in the wake of the new administration, Generation Y (or is it now O?) has assembled itself an affable army of environuts in search of an alternative to an inconvenient truth. But they need a touch of guidance, and the dollars to get it done. Enter Melanie Stevenson.

Stevenson, who grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, got her start in activism through the Community Service and Key Club in her high school. While attending Davidson College near Charlotte, North Carolina, Stevenson became a coach for Girls on the Run, a nonprofit that encourages self-esteem through athletics for girls in middle school. Today, in addition to being closely involved with the hundreds of Do Something causes, Stevenson travels to New Orleans for disaster relief, helping to rebuild and re-beautify the city post-Hurricane Katrina.

At the moment, however, Stevenson is devoting all her time to the eco-tweens. Do Something is not a fan of those tasty but time stealing Gertrude Hawk fundraisers. “Those kids are working hard at Baskin Robbins and deserve to keep their money,” says Stevenson. Still, trees have yet to sprout the kind of green these young entrepreneurs need. Part of Stevenson’s job is therefore to reach out to companies like Pepsi, jetBlue Airways and American Express for donations. As she tells it, sponsors allow teens to dream big without the limitations of a price tag.

To promote “Increase Your Green,” she worked alongside Do Something’s resident tech whizzes to advertise the competition on the nonprofit’s website, as well as on Channel 1, a station that broadcasts neatly packaged news segments to students before attending their first class. Do Something public service announcements, featuring stars like Gossip boy Chace Crawford and pop rockers Fall Out Boy, air after the news.

Apparently, the Hollywood factor did the trick. Four hundred schools applied, with an approximate 1,000 student-participation rate per school—doubling the amount of applications from the previous year’s campaign. “Last year, green was hot. But this year, it’s even hotter,” says Jordyn Wells, a modern-day flower child with wispy blond hair that distributes Do Something’s Green Grants. She organized the first “Increase Your Green” competition—a challenge that was limited to students in the North East—before passing the torch onto Stevenson, who expanded the program nationally.

The proposals ranged from small acts of eco-consciousness to intricate technological blueprints. Some kids proposed gardening clubs. Others encouraged their cafeterias to buy their products locally. One group proposed building and then installing solar panels on their school’s roof. What is the secret to their success? Their willingness to pioneer a new frontier. “Teenagers are more flexible,” Stevenson says in her signature sotto voce. “They do the most amazing things.”

For instance, the students of Boston Latin School’s Youth CAN (Climate Action Network) gathered at the Boston Nature Center to weave a hundred-foot fish net, which they then used to scoop trash from the center’s wetlands. They have partnered with the Massachusetts Literacy Campaign and the Boston Children’s Museum Energy Fair to chat with young saplings on the importance of sustainability. They are now busy organizing their 3rd annual Global Climate Change Summit – a massive, educational conference to take place on May 9th at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

This year, Scituate High School in Rhode Island took home the gold. These techies built a biodiesal production tank, videotaped the process, and put it on display in a science fair attended by local educators and scientists. They also held energy education nights – workshops attended by their peers, volunteers and energy officials. The workshop’s content will be featured in an upcoming edition of a textbook being published by CPO Science.

While watching the winning team get taped for the evening news, Stevenson sounds off from the sidelines, gushing proudly, “[These students have] put into place systems that are going to be sustainable for years and years and continue to educate the community and educators and other students and scientists!”

Does the company ever fear the legitimacy of these credit-free kids’ proposals? Nope. Although she has the final say, Stevenson explains that she has a group of adult activists and educators with energy-saving ideals to help her decide. She also has her growing Youth Advisory Board to help her pull the weeds. Moreover, Stevenson believes that they are fortunate to have a good group of honest kids that simply want to make a difference in their community.

Two years ago, the Do Something Organization reached 11.5 million teens, enabling 200,000 to act through grants awarded through an application process. Last year, they overshot their goal of 310,000 by fostering 400,000 young visions through advisement, networking and sponsorship. By 2010, Do Something hopes to spread the word to 20 million teens and get at least 2 million to volunteer. Stevenson seems confidant that they will be able to do so, crediting this in part to the wired energy in the country surrounding the new administration.

In response to the staggering number of requests the organization has received for more green activism, Stevenson is now helping to organize “Green Your Prom,” a possible partnership with Seventeen magazine that will offer high school seniors the chance to propose a prom night filled with LED lights and recyclable decorations. She will even be taking nominations for the Green Prom Queen, the femme fatale who knows it is hip to be green and does everything she can to make sure prom attendees know it too. Leighton Meester, the Gossip Girl to Crawford’s boy, will be doing the PSA for that competition, which will go live March 1.

Sadly for the teen monarch-to-be, she will be but a princess in the Do Something Court. Independent as teens may be, Stevenson, networking and educating from her swivel chair throne, still reigns supreme—for now.

P.S. Here is the pop art PSA featuring Fall Out Boy used to promote the green initiative – an excellent opportunity to see Pete Wentz act the fool.