How Jane Goodall supports Tampa Bay kids in understanding the environment | Column

As a fifth grader at Madeira Beach Fundamental School, Caymus Maxson saw trash mixed with seaweed removed from the beach and returned to the water. When the pandemic hit in 2020, the 10-year-old also began learning about single-use plastics and other products that are not sustainable — and she decided to do something about it.

Caymus founded Trash Turtles to “save the planet one piece of trash at a time.’’ It focuses on beach cleanups, environmental awareness and community action. And four years after Caymus created it as a school project, Trash Turtles is a nonprofit that has cleaned more than 300 miles of beaches, raised money to install water refill stations and awarded scholarships.

There are young people like Caymus leading remarkable service projects like Trash Turtles all over Tampa Bay, the nation and the world. In this region, they now they have additional help from Roots & Shoots, a youth-action program from the Jane Goodall Institute which inspires young people to make a difference in their own way.

Conservation icon Jane Goodall launched Roots & Shoots in 1991 to help young people create a positive change in their own communities. What started with a few members in Tanzania has expanded worldwide to nearly 70 countries and all 50 U.S. states. A firm believer in the power of hope, Goodall knows that every individual has the power to make a difference — and Roots & Shoots provides the resources to develop community-led projects that can collectively make a significant difference.

Inspired to help communities come together to create a greater impact, Roots & Shoots has launched four base camps throughout the U.S. as hubs for Roots & Shoots members. The Tampa Bay base camp opened in September 2023, and we began focusing on how we can help young people with projects related to the environment given the miles of shoreline and strong local interest in the issue.

To kick off our Roots & Shoots Alliance of Tampa Bay, we are hosting Hope in Action on Sept. 14 and 15. The goal is to help young people understand our environmental challenges and provide them with some tools and suggestions of projects they could undertake, from cleaning beaches to planting sea grasses.

Goodall will headline and speak at a ticketed public event at 7 p.m. Sept. 14 at Tropicana Field.

The following day will be a day of action for young people participating in the environmental summit, and we have about a dozen projects lined up.

While Roots & Shoots has assisted young people in Tampa Bay with their projects for about a decade, our new base camp will be able to provide more dedicated support as Roots & Shoots members develop their own projects. We also can better serve as a community resource to connect teachers, scout troops or other youth groups with organizations that can provide guidance and assistance with projects. Our Roots & Shoots Alliance of Tampa Bay already includes about 30 organizations, including Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, Tampa Bay Watch, The Florida Aquarium and Ocean Conservancy.

Our Sept. 14 Youth Environment Summit at the Trop will feature a panel of young changemakers such as Caymus. Chase and Zach Hartman of Tampa also will be there. They founded Eco Brothers, which has led beach and park cleanups over the last eight years, helped hundreds of kids craft stuffed animals into toys sent to shelters and distributed more than 225,000 books to more than 65,000 area students.

Throughout Tampa Bay, young people are designing and executing projects to help preserve and protect our precious environment. Roots & Shoots is working to give them a helping hand and empower other young people eager to contribute.

Bonnie Eaton is Tampa Bay Basecamp Coordinator for Roots & Shoots USA, the youth-action program from the Jane Goodall Institute. Roots & Shoots supports youth projects in nearly 70 countries worldwide.