Baby-Sitters Club 057

by Ann M. Martin

  Mr. Kingbridge didn't seem to mind. In fact, little smile lines formed around his eyes as he said, "This really is a worthwhile project, Dawn. I'll give you a week and a half to drum up interest and then we'll discuss it again. Good luck. I hope it works." I was smiling so hard when I left Mr. King-bridge's office that my cheeks ached. All I had to do to get his okay was prove that the students at SMS were interested. That would be easy! That night I began my campaign. First I called everyone in the BSC and asked them to help me make posters and talk to the students. The next morning Mary Anne and I went to school early because I wanted to greet the students as they came in through the front doors.

  Mary Anne agreed to help hold my sign, which read: "SMS needs a Recycling Center. You can make it happen!" The first person to come by was Erica Blum-berg from our homeroom. She was juggling her books and what looked like her break- fast - a small can of orange juice and half a piece of buttered toast. I caught her math book just before it hit the floor and tucked it back into her book bag.

  "Thanks," she mumbled as she finished off the last bite of her toast.

  "Erica, I need your help," I began. "I'm trying to start a recycling center here at school." "What can I do?" "Pass the word to all your friends, and volunteer to be a helper when the project gets going-" "Sure," Erica said as she took a final swig of her juice. "Just keep me posted." She was about to toss the empty container in the trash can by the front door when I shouted, "Erica! Are you crazy?" Erica leaped back from the trash can as if a deadly snake were inside it. Her book bag slipped off her shoulder and clattered onto the floor. "What? What's the matter?" I pointed to the can in her hand. "That's an aluminum can. Never throw it away. It can be recycled." "Oh. Sorry." Erica turned in a confused circle, trying to figure out what to do with her can.

  "Look, I'll take that for you," Mary Anne offered as she picked up Erica's book bag.

  "And when the school gets its own center, you can just drop it in the box." "Oh, thanks, Mary Anne," Erica said gratefully. She hurried down the hall and didn't even look at me when she said, "I guess I'll see you later." Mary Anne turned to me and hissed, "Why did you shout at Erica like that?" "She was going to throw that can away," I shot back. "Do you know how bad that is for the environment?" "Yes," Mary Anne replied with an impatient sigh. "You've already told me a hundred times." "Well, then you should have stopped her, too. Americans throw away sixty-five billion cans a year. Do you know how much garbage that is?" I hate to admit it but I was starting to get upset with Mary Anne. She didn't seem to care as much as I did about what we were trying to do. "I thought you believed in recycling." "I do, but I'm not going to yell at everyone just because they throw away one can or bottle," Mary Anne said. "And you'd better be careful how you treat people, or they will turn against you and your idea. Here." She shoved my poster into my hands and started to walk away.

  "Hey, where are you going?" I asked.

  "I've got to get to class early to finish some homework," Mary Anne said without looking back.

  Now I was really confused. Mary Anne seemed upset with me, but she had no right to be. I was just doing my part to help save the environment.

  After Mary Anne left, I talked to about twenty more kids before the bell rang. Then I hurried down the hall to my locker, where I ran into Shawna River son. Her locker is next to mine, and it's a pigsty (which is a big surprise, since she is always so perfect-looking). Anyway, when Shawna opened her locker, I swear, three plastic cups, some greasy wrappers from month-old hamburgers, and two yellow Styrofoam containers tumbled onto the hall floor. (Gag!) "You must live on burgers and fries," I said as I watched her scoop up the debris.

  "Who can eat the food they serve here?" Shawna groaned. "They practically force me to go to Burger Town." 1 watched as she shoved the Styrofoam containers, along with the rest of her trash, back in her locker. "Well next time you get a hamburger, tell them to just put it in a paper bag," I told her. "Styrofoam is terrible for the environment." "I'm sure," she said sarcastically, "that two boxes are not going to hurt anybody." I don't know what came over me but suddenly I got really angry. "That's permanent garbage. Don't you understand? It'll never go away. Those two containers will probably float around in the ocean and kill innocent sea turtles." "Big deal.".

  Shawna shut her locker door and began walking down the hall. I followed her all the way to homeroom, trying to make her come to her senses. "It is a very big deal. Do you know that the chemicals used to make Styrofoam are ruining the ozone layer?" (I didn't realize it but I was practically shouting.) "That causes the greenhouse effect, which is why the Northeast is having a drought right now, and why Texas is getting waterlogged." "So tell them to get an umbrella," Shawna said as we stepped into our homeroom.

  Several of the students in class laughed at her reply, which just made me even more angry. How could they laugh about something as important as the future of our world? I would have said something really nasty if the bell hadn't rung.

  Mary Anne, who sits behind me in homeroom, tugged on my arm. "Calm down, Dawn," she whispered. "Class is about to start." I slumped down in my seat, feeling more convinced than ever that what I was doing was right.

  Chapter 9.

  Claudia arrived at our Save the Planet class on Thursday completely out of breath. She told us that Charlotte had insisted on running the entire way. This was a very important day for our class because we were making our final preparations *for the Green Fair and Charlotte wanted to make sure she didn't miss a thing.

  The minute they walked in the door, I took charge.

  "Coats on the hooks in the hall," I instructed. "Guests on the couch. And students check the assignment sheet posted by the kitchen door." I clapped my hands together several times. "We've got a lot of things to do today so let's not dawdle." Stacey, who had been in the kitchen when Claudia first arrived, was a lot more casual. "Hi, Claud!" she called. "Can I get you something to drink? Juice or mineral water?" Claud shook her head. "Don't worry about me. I'm going to be as quiet as a mouse, and just sit over here in the corner." Stacey was carrying some sheets of poster board and a pack of colored markers in her hands as she stepped into the living room. "Did you see what Woody Jefferson and Trevor Sandbourne brought for lunch today?" she asked.

  Claudia had eaten with some friends on the other side of the lunch room. She leaned forward eagerly. "No. What?" "Brie cheese, pate, and a bottle of sparkling cider." "You're kidding!" Claudia gasped. "I can't believe I missed this." "They even spread out a red-and-white checkered tablecloth, and brought their own silver and a couple of wine glasses. Mrs. Ensign thought they were drinking real wine and nearly had a cow." (Mrs. Ensign is a lunchroom monitor.) "Why'd they do it?" Claud asked.

  "To prove that we don't have to eat Mystery Meat and pickled green beans to have a good lunch." "Oooh, I bet that made Mrs. Ensign furious." "Yeah," Stacey giggled, "you should have seen her. Her face turned beet-red. Trevor said he thought he saw steam coming out of her ears." "Excuse me?" I cut in on their conversation. "I don't want to interrupt your gossip session, Stacey, but we do have a class to teach." "Oops!" Stacey winced. "I'll talk to you later, Claud." She hurried over to the kids who were clustered around the assignment sheet chattering excitedly.

  "I'm with Charlotte at the shopping bag booth," Becca Ramsey said to Stacey. "What's that?" Stacey opened her mouth to reply but I answered for her (after all, the booth was my idea). "We want to encourage people not to use paper or plastic when they buy their groceries," I explained. "We want them to bring their own bags. You two will be selling canvas shopping bags that you have decorated. You'll also sell plain ones that people can decorate on their own." "That sounds fun," Charlotte said.

  "I want to be at the shopping bag booth, too," Melody Korman added, pouting.

  Stacey knelt beside her and said, "All of the booths are fun. I've talked to Bloomer's, the nursery on Spring Street, and they've agreed to donate small plants for the booth we would like you and Hannie to run." "What do we do
with the plants?" Melody asked.

  "You sell them," I explained. "This is a very important booth. Not only does it raise money but it helps keep the world green." A big smile lit up Melody's face and turning to Hannie she exclaimed, "Our booth will be the best one at the whole fair!" "In the whole world!" Hannie replied.

  Stacey handed Melody some poster board.

  "Your assignment today is to make the sign for your booth." Melody hurried over to a corner of the room, calling, "I'll make the letters, Hannie, if you'll draw a picture of a plant." Hannie turned to Stacey. "Do you have a green magic marker?" Stacey found one while I explained the rest of the assignments.

  "The school has loaned us their button-making machine so Karen, Andrew, and Suzi will make Think Green and My Kids Care buttons, and sell them to the parents in the neighborhood." "Yea!" Andrew and Suzi cheered.

  "Bill and Buddy will be in charge of the wild animal booth." "What's that?" Bill asked.

  "You're going to show people how to save the animals. I want you guys to cut out pictures from magazines and make a collage of endangered species." Bill and Buddy whispered to each other for a few moments. Finally Buddy declared, "We like that booth. But we would also like to sell something because I'm a good salesman." Stacey and I had to think fast on that one. "What about those birdhouses?" she suggested.

  The week before, the kids had made bird-houses out of milk cartons and decorated them.

  "Great idea!" I said.

  "My mom really liked the one I brought home," Bill said.

  "We'll make millions of birdhouses," Buddy cried, hopping around the room in excitement, "and millions of dollars!" "Ten birdhouses would probably be enough," I said, trying to keep a straight face. "But you two make as many as you can." Stacey checked the list to see what was left. "We also have several demonstration booths," she said. "That's where we'll show the results of our experiments." "You mean, we're going to let people look at our buried treasures that we dug up last week?" Karen Brewer wrinkled her nose. "Some of that stuff is rotten." "It's supposed to be," I explained. "You see, the lettuce leaves and the apple core are decaying and becoming part of the earth." "Does anybody remember what had happened to the Styrofoam and plastic wrap when we dug them up?" Stacey asked.

  "I do," David Michael replied. "Nothing. They just got dirty." "That's right," I said. "Because they aren't biodegradable. Which means that Styrofoam and plastic are really bad for our earth." "I think Linny and David Michael should work this booth," Stacey said. "One of you could explain our projects to the visitors, while the other one points out the results of our experiments." The two boys gave each other a high five, then proceeded to argue about who would do the, talking and who would do the pointing.

  "Next we'll have a letter writing booth," I said, smiling at the Pike kids. "I'm putting Nicky and Vanessa in charge of that one, since the letters they wrote to our world leaders were so good." Nicky stuck out his lower lip. "If my letter was so good, how come the President hasn't written me back? I check the mailbox everyday." Stacey took Nicky's hand. "The President is a very busy man. He barely has time to read his letters, let alone answer them. But I'm sure he liked yours, especially since you sent him your picture." "You really think so?" Nicky asked.

  "I'm sure of it." Stacey gave him a quick hug and then stood up. "All right. Everyone break into groups, and start working on your projects. When you're - " "Not so fast," I said, cutting Stacey off. "First I want to know how many of you called your friends to find out if their families recycle?" Only two kids raised their hands - Bill and Melody Korman. I shook my head. "I'm really disappointed in the rest of you. How can we save the planet if you can't even make one phone call?" The kids who only moments before had big smiles on their faces, hung their heads and stared at the carpet.

  "Now next week, when I ask this question," I said, "I want every single one of you to raise your hand. Will you do that?" I waited till they nodded, then said, "Good. Now let's get to work." When the class was over, and the kids were getting ready to go home, Claudia approached Stacey and me.

  "You guys are incredible," she said. "You look like real pros. No wonder Charlotte is so excited about this class. If there's anything I can do to help your fair, just let me know." "Well . . . there is one thing," I said.

  "Name it," Claudia said.

  "Would you mind designing some fliers that we can hand out at school? We'd love to have your artistic touch." Stacey looked at me in surprise. "But I thought we were going to ask the kids to do that." I rolled my eyes and whispered, "We were. But if we can get a real artist like Claudia to do them, they'll look professional and more people will come." Stacey gave me a funny look, then shrugged. "Okay. If that's what you want." "It's what we both want. Isn't it?" "I guess so." She sighed.

  I couldn't believe her response. Stacey hardly sounded interested in the project at all.

  "You guys?" Claudia looked a little embarrassed to have overheard us. "Look, I don't want to interfere. Maybe it would be better if the kids made the fliers." "No!" I practically shouted. "I want you to do the work. They'll look better." Claudia glanced from me to Stacey and said, "Okay. Would you mind if I asked Charlotte to help me?" That made Stacey smile. "I think that's a wonderful idea, Claudia." Charlotte liked the idea a lot, too. On the walk back to her house, she chattered about it nonstop.

  "I'm so glad you're going to help us save the world, Claudia," she said. "We really need you." Claudia was still feeling inspired from the class. She wrapped her arm around Charlotte's shoulder and hugged her. "I'm glad I can help. This is a wonderful project." The two of them spent the rest of the afternoon working on designs for the flier. Charlotte thought they should start with a picture of the earth in the center. Then Claudia suggested they draw a line of kids holding hands that ringed the globe. They agreed to cut the shapes of the earth and children out of construction paper, then glue them onto a white background.

  "We can cut the letters out of ads in magazines," Claudia suggested after they'd finished with the construction paper. "That will make the flier look like a crazy quilt." "Oooh!" Charlotte clapped her hands together excitedly. "That would be really cool." By the time Dr. Johanssen arrived home, Claudia and Charlotte were finished. They proudly displayed their design to Charlotte's mother, who said, "This class has been the best thing to happen to Charlotte in a long time. I can't remember when she's been so excited about something." Claudia nodded so hard her earrings (which were made of paper clips and sequins and ribbon) bounced. "It's even gotten me excited," she said. "Dawn and Stacey have really done a great job." That night Claud intended to call Stacey and me to congratulate us, but Stacey called her first.

  "Dawn is driving me crazy!" Stacey complained the second Claud answered.

  "What are you talking about?" Claudia said as she propped up her bed pillows and leaned back against them. She fumbled behind the headboard for the bag of Mallomars she'd stashed there. She had a feeling this was going to be a long call (and she was right).

  "You saw how she acted today," Stacey said. "Didn't you notice anything unusual?" "Well, she did seem a little bossy at times." "A little!" Stacey shouted into the phone. "She barely let me finish a sentence." "Well, maybe that's her way of showing how excited she is about the project," Claud said diplomatically.

  "It's her way of showing everyone that she's right and I'm wrong. She acts as if she was the first person to discover pollution." "Whoa," Claud said, taking a bite of her Mal-lomar, "I didn't realize you were so upset." "It's been building up for the past few weeks," Stacey admitted. "In the beginning, we divided up what we had to do but now she insists on being in charge of everything." "Have you talked to her about it?" "I've tried," Stacey said. "But every time I start to say something, she changes the subject by pointing out some mistake I've made, like using a paper napkin instead of a cloth one." Claud tore open a second Mallomar. "We all agree that Dawn has gone kind of overboard about ecology, but you shouldn't let it get to you. I mean, how bad can it be?" "We
ll, to tell you the truth," Stacey said in a sad voice, "if I didn't feel so committed to the kids in our class, I would probably just quit and do another project for Mrs. Gonzalez." Claudia gulped down a big bite. "It's that serious?" "It's that serious," Stacey confided. "And I'm afraid that if something doesn't change soon, it's going to ruin my friendship with Dawn. Permanently." Chapter 10.

  "May I have your attention, please? This is Dawn Schafer. Today I want to talk to you about a very important subject - recycling." Mr. Kingbridge had let me make a speech over the school's PA system during homeroom announcements. I felt weird talking into a microphone, and knowing that every kid in school was listening. I might have felt nervous, too, but I had written my speech down, so all I had to do was read it.

  I told everyone about the need for a recycling center, and why SMS was the perfect location. Then I finished with a challenge.

  "I want every student at SMS to stand up and show you care. How can you do that? By casting your vote for a recycling center and volunteering to help run it. Because, if you don't care about our planet - who will?" Questionnaires were to be handed out after my speech to every student in each home- room. Mr. Kingbridge had drawn them up himself. Then he got on the microphone and told everyone how to fill them out. "Don't sign your names," he added. "This is a general survey to find out your interest and willingness to participate in the recycling program designed by Dawn Schafer." The last question in the survey asked the students to name an appropriate chairperson for the recycling project. My name was listed first. Then came Mrs. Gonzalez's name, and finally a blank space marked, Other, please specify.