Prophet Muhammad once said, "When the last day comes, if someone has a palm shoot in his hand, he should plant it.” It was through this quote where I found the inspiration to do my Girl Scouts Gold Award Project on sustaining the environment through interactive seminars and landscaping initiatives.

At first, it seemed almost ineffective to be in front of a group of fourth and fifth graders at my old elementary school presenting about recycling and saving the planet when most of the students were already familiar with such discussions. Little did I know, that the youngest students I presented to would have the greatest of ideas. Although many students could almost guess the detrimental affects of global warming, they did not hesitate to share their own opinions and offer ideas of how we could take small actions to make a big difference. One of the most impressive ideas I received was from a young girl who said that she would be willing to take bottle caps and decorate them as buttons. Although the idea was simple, many students were motivated to use their creativity and passion for art to do their part in conserving our planet’s resources.

The other part of my project was putting into action several hours of researching and presenting about Earth’s deterioration. For multiple times during the summer and fall, I helped with the landscaping initiative at my church. I never before realized how important it was to provide plants with proper nourishment and necessary attention. With the help of knowledgeable adults and young volunteers, I was able to water the flowers around our church yard, while learning more about the process of growing trees and other smaller plants to keep the area outside of church cultivated and enriched.

In over a span of about a year, I understood so much more about humanity’s responsibility to our home. Although at times I doubted if I was really having an impact on the students I presented to, I realized that just by spreading awareness, I was really making more of a difference than I realized for it would be those young minds who would one day redeem the Earth of the mistakes of the past generations. As for landscaping, I discovered a new passion I wish to continue to pursue long after the end of my Gold Award project. Because of words of wisdom in a simple quote, I genuinely feel touched and motivated even more to live green and inspire others to do the same.