Chase Loveless is a junior at Stuart Hall High School in San Francisco, California, and at a young age has raised awareness in his community about the environmental impact of batteries, thereby safeguarding marine life in the Bay Area.
His passion for sustainability led Chase to successfully organize a battery collection drive within his K-12 community, collecting over 70 pounds of used batteries, equivalent to over a thousand individual AA batteries.
The project not only prevented potential damage to the Bay, but also demonstrated the tangible impact of local youth initiatives.
“San Francisco is surrounded by water and the bay is an integral part of my community. Marine life that thrives in the bay is exposed to toxic chemicals from illegal disposal of harmful products, most commonly batteries. My project aimed to raise awareness about the toxicity of batteries and their negative impact on the environment,” said the young man from the Climate Leader Fellowship program.
Chase said he brainstormed how he could help protect the Bay Area, and decided he would hold a collection of used batteries throughout his K-12 community.
Once the collection was complete, he said, he properly disposed of the batteries at a local recycling company called Recology. “I collected over 70 pounds of batteries that could have ended up in the Pacific Ocean if they weren’t disposed of properly.”
But not everything was easy, because according to Loveless, the biggest challenge she had to face was connecting with her community so that others would know about her project.
“I created a social media page where I posted vital information about the project, with updates and informative posts educating about the toxic chemicals found in batteries and the effects they have on the environment. Additionally, I posted another informative slide that was projected daily on our school’s television screens,” she said.
“This allowed more students who are not present on social media to connect. This helped me maximize the number of batteries we collected from homes across San Francisco. The batteries that were collected were a testament to how our community can come together to help stop climate change.”
Chase Loveless achieved his goal through the Climate Leaders Fellowship, a leadership program provided by Rustic Pathways, which he said helped him realize that he is a person who can create change, even if the challenge seems daunting.
“I’m so proud of everyone coming together to get rid of this common household item. The 70 pounds of batteries we collected is equivalent to over a thousand individual AA batteries. This is a huge amount of batteries that could have impacted my environment, and I’m proud of how I used my close-knit community to bring about change.”
The Climate Leaders Fellowship is a teen enrichment program that leads high school students to investigate the effects of climate change in their own communities and find ways to combat the problem at the local level.
The virtual volunteer program is offered in collaboration between Stanford University’s Deliberative Democracy Lab and the Rustic Pathways Foundation.
Students can apply for the Climate Leaders Scholarship at the following link, https://rusticpathways.com/young-climate-leaders-fellowship, the program is accepting applications until February 4.
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