Colorado Student Brings Recycling Awareness to Locals, Students

A high school sophomore at Discovery Canyon Campus in Colorado Springs has started a project to raise recycling awareness in his area.

Aryan Tuteja, the determined 15-year-old, is hoping his work will inspire others in Southern Colorado to keep the state clean and consider recycling, composting, and learning incineration.

“I was already interested in helping the environment and with climate change,” Tuteja said. “And when I noticed huge waste dumps outside in Colorado Springs, I was really shocked to see how little people care about waste management and how huge it’s affecting climate change overall. So, I thought I should do something to help this and that’s why I created my project to create awareness… more about recycling, composting and incineration.”

To help bring his idea to life, Tuteja worked with the non-profit organization, Rustic Pathways, through their Climate Leaders Fellowship program.

“I always wanted to make this change, but I wasn’t really sure how until I came [across] Rustic Pathways, who actually led the way and taught me how I can do this,” Tuteja said. “They really helped me understand what’s around me.”

There are 190 students across the world, including Tuteja, participating in the fellowship program. Through the program, students can help pursue their passions of leaving a positive impact on their local communities to help reduce climate change.

“It’s been really cool just seeing the types of ideas that these students come up with,” Shu said. “We don’t really tell them what to do. We just kind of plant some seeds and they go off, talk to people, their neighbors, their friends, family, and local businesses to see what types of opportunities for impact there are.”

Hoping to get other students and people his age to learn recycling, Tuteja shares his work via a QR code throughout his high school.

“Our QR code was actually really helpful because it let students connect to our project more openly and freely,” Tuteja said. “It also gave them very easy access for us.”

Read the full article here.