Teens invited to enter ‘green living’ essay contest
Snohomish County junior and senior high school students are asked to tackle tough environmental questions for a contest presented by Allied Waste Services and the Snohomish County Executive Office.
Winners of the “Living Evergreen” essay contest will be recognized by County Executive Aaron Reardon at the opening of the coming Evergreen State Fair, Aug. 26.
“Today’s youth are tomorrow’s leaders, and they will be responsible for solving the next generation of environmental questions through individual initiative and technology,” Reardon said. “It’s important that we begin this discussion with them today, and this essay contest is one attempt to do so.”
Through this “Living Evergreen” essay contest, a panel of three judges will select first-, second- and thirdplace essays from students entering grades 7-9 and 10 through 12.
Allied Waste Services has provided U.S. Treasury bonds as prizes, with each first-place winner receiving a $200 bond.
Students are challenged to answer one of the following questions:
• What steps can you take in your everyday life to enhance and maintain the environment and improve sustainability?
• What current technology and green-living practices do you and your family use today that helps improve the environment and what impacts do you think these make on the environment?
• What future technical advancements can you imagine for solving current environmental and sustainability challenges?
During last year’s opening ceremony, leaders from Allied Waste Services discussed their renewable energy project in Klickitat County, which is fueled by waste from Snohomish County. Together, the two entities found a way to reduce the impacts of the county’s waste stream on the environment.
“It is ideas such as these that make our lives healthier and more enjoyable,” Reardon said. “Yet, there is still much more we can do to promote greener living while creating new jobs in new industries.”
Essays of 700-1,000 words must be received before Aug. 16. They should be e-mailed to essaycontest@ nyhus.com or mailed to the “Living Evergreen” Essay Contest, c/o Nyhus Communications, 1525 Fourth Ave., Suite 400, Seattle, WA 98109.
Essay contest rules are at www.evergreenfair.org. Educators, program leaders and contestants can e-mail questions to essaycontest@ nyhus.com or editor@nyhus. com.
