Ann Martin - Baby-Sitters Club 057

Dear Mrs. Queen of England, My name is Vanessa Pike. I'm nine years old and I'm very upset about the pollution in the world. If we don't stop throwing garbage in our oceans, and polluting our air, animals and fish could die. Things are getting so bad that I'm afraid the world won't be a very nice place when I grow up and have children. Please help stop pollution.

Sincerely, Vanessa Pike Jessi looked up from the letter and smiled warmly at Vanessa. "That's really wonderful. I think the Queen will be impressed." Nicky, who had been chewing anxiously on his pencil eraser asked, "Can I copy it?" Vanessa shook her head. "No, Nicky. We're each supposed to write our own." Jessi handed Vanessa's letter back to her and said, "Nicky, let me see what you've written." "It's terrible," Nicky cried, covering the page with his arm.

"I'm sure it's not," Jessi prodded gently. "Let me see." Slowly Nicky pulled his arm away. The page was blank except for three words written across the top: Dear Mr. President.

Jessi stared at them and said, "Well that's a good start. Now you just need to write the letter." "I can't." Nicky's lower lip was trembling dangerously. "I know what I want to say, but I don't know how to spell all the words." Jessi's sister Becca is the same age as Nicky, so Jessi is pretty good at handling eight-year- olds. "I've got an idea. How about if I act as your secretary?" she suggested. "You tell me what you want to say and I'll write it down." Vanessa, who was busily writing her letter to Japan, lifted her head to protest, "But it has to be in Nicky's handwriting." "Then Nicky can copy what I've written," Jessi replied as she sat down beside Mal's brother. She picked up the pencil and said, "All right, you've got 'Dear Mr. President.' Now what?" Nicky scratched his chin and wandered around the table muttering to himself. Here's the letter he finally dictated to Jessi: Dear Mr. President, You don't know me but I've seen you on TV. My name is Nicky Pike and I'm in second grade at Stoneybrook Elementary School. I have a pet hamster named Frodo and seven brothers and sisters. Garbage is taking over the world and if we're not careful, there won't be any room left for my family or Frodo. Plus the air is bad for us. So, will you do me a favor and help fix this? Thank you.

Your friend, Nicholas Pike P.S. I'm sending my picture so you will know me the next time you see me.

Jessi helped Nicky copy the letter and address the envelope. But before they could start another letter, the Green Patrol burst into the dining room. The triplets circled the table, joined by Margo and Claire.

"Is that recycled paper?" Adam asked, pointing to the stationery they'd used.

Jessi examined Nicky's yellow tablet and nodded. "Yes, I think so." "How about that!" Jordan pointed to the box of pink stationery and Vanessa's eyes widened in horror.

Margo folded her arms across her chest. "You're the one who told us we had to use recycled paper." "I know I did," Vanessa muttered as she checked the outside of the box. "But I didn't buy this. Mom and Dad gave it to me for Christmas last year." Mallory stepped into the room. "I think maybe the Green Patrol shouldn't worry about the stuff we already have. You guys should just focus on the future. So from now on, Vanessa will make sure she buys only recycled stationery. Right, Vanessa?" Vanessa shot Mallory a grateful smile. "Right." Mallory clapped her hands together. "Now, I think it's time we had some lunch. Mom made PBJs for everybody before she left this morning." "Hooray!" Claire cried. "I love peanut butter." Jessi helped stack the letters in a neat pile on the sideboard, and then she and Mal led the group into the kitchen.

"Uh-oh," Nicky shouted as they entered the big family kitchen. "Water leak!" He pointed to the dripping kitchen faucet.

Adam leapt forward. "Who should the Green Patrol arrest?" Mal rolled her eyes at Jessi. "I don't think you need to arrest anybody," she told Adam in her most patient voice. "I think you just need to make sure the faucet is completely turned off." "I'll do it," Margo called, racing for the sink.

"Maybe we should check all the faucets in the house," Vanessa suggested. "Dawn told us that even the tiniest leaky faucet can lose up to three thousand gallons of water a year." "How much is that?" Claire wondered.

"She said that's like drinking sixty-five glasses of water a day for a whole year." "Wow!" .

The kids stared at the kitchen sink and tried to imagine drinking that much water.

"We better check out the rest of the house right away," Adam declared with a worried frown. "We've got lots of faucets and showers." Jessi grabbed his arm before he could leave the kitchen. "Lunch first. Then we can check the house, plus the spigots outside." "Outside?" Jordan repeated.

"Sure," Jessi said. "Garden hoses can leak, too, you know." The prospect of inspecting not just the house but outside, too, cheered everyone.

Mal's mother had set the sandwiches on a big plate on the counter. Next to them was a plastic baggie filled with celery and carrot sticks.

"Uh-oh." Nicky pointed to the baggie. "The Green Patrol may have to arrest Mom. She used plastic." "Not so fast," Mal said. "It's not a waste. We can use this bag again. I'll rinse it out and then put it in the dish drainer to dry. How does that sound?" Nicky and Vanessa exchanged looks, and then Vanessa said, "I guess that's okay." "What a relief," Jessi murmured under her breath. Picking up a roll of paper towels, she said, "Okay, everybody, take your sandwiches to the table." "Look out!" Jordan shouted. "Jessi's going to waste paper. Green patrol!" Jessi pulled her hand back quickly. "If we can't put our sandwiches on paper towels," she asked Mallory, "what should we do about cleaning up crumbs, and wiping our mouths?" "I know!" Margo cried, "Let's use real plates and cloth napkins." Mallory smiled. "That's using your head." While the kids put their sandwiches on glass saucers, Jessi muttered under her breath, "Is it all right to give the kids glasses of milk to drink?" "Sure," Mallory replied. "Why wouldn't it be?" "I don't know," she said with a shrug. "Maybe milking cows is bad for the animals." Mallory laughed. "The Green Patrol has really shaken you up, hasn't it?" Jessi nodded her head. "I'm afraid to breathe. I might-pollute the air." After the kids ate lunch, they made a complete inspection of the house and yard. Several times Jessi and Mal made mistakes. Jessi found a soda can by the fence and threw it in the trash. She forgot to recycle. And Mallory left the light on in the kitchen. She was wasting energy. But the Green Patrol was right there to tell them about it.

By the time Mr. and Mrs. Pike arrived home two hours later, the house and yard had been given a complete Green Inspection, and Jessi and Mal were totally exhausted.

They had both been forced to attend Green school five times and, according to Jessi, "Once was more than enough!" Chapter 8.

I spent most of the week planning a recycling program for Stoneybrook Middle School. First I designed a poster listing reasons why SMS was the ideal site for a recycling center. Then I drew up a schedule for taking the cans and bottles to the main terminal downtown. I'd even made a chart of how many students would be needed to work on the project each week, and how many hours they would have to spend a month to keep the recycling center going.

On Thursday I got up my courage to present my plan to Mrs. Gonzalez. After school, I went to her classroom and told her about it. Her response was better than I ever expected.

"Dawn, that's an excellent idea," she said. "I'm really impressed." "Thanks," I said proudly. "When can we start? Tomorrow?" Mrs. Gonzalez laughed. "Not so fast. These things take time." "But there isn't any time," I protested. "Every day the world gets covered with more and more garbage. You said so yourself." Mrs. Gonzalez folded her hands in front of her on her desk. "I'm glad to see you're so enthusiastic about this, and I have a feeling you could really make it work. But before we can start anything, Mr. Kingbridge will have to okay it." My stomach did a flip-flop. Mr. Kingbridge was the vice-principal and a visit to his office was always pretty scary.