Teen launches Go Green fund
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

IRIS SMOOT/AcornNewspapers GREEN MACHINE- Calabasas High School junior Jessie Philips, 16, has started a community campaign to help the environment. Working with the City Council, Phillips plans to offer free compact fluorescent light bulbs and sell reusable bags through local retailers.

Most juniors at Calabasas High School are thinking about college applications, focusing on their most difficult year of studies and planning for their upcoming last year of school. And it's not that Jessica Phillips doesn't have all those things on her mind, too. But she's also trying to be a part of something bigger.

Jessie recently spoke in front of the Calabasas City Council to propose the Go Green Calabasas fund. The project started after she learned that if everyone replaced one typical light bulb with an energyefficient bulb, as much energy would be saved as taking 1,000 cars off the road.

"I want to inform Calabasas residents all about going green," Jessie said. "We all know it's a very important issue, especially now with global warming and all the problems happening around the world. At school, I ask people about it and they are completely uninformed, and it bothers me. I think people should be a lot more aware of what's going on."

Her first order of business was to start a program that would allow her to pass out an energyefficient bulb to anyone who wanted one- free of charge.

Jessie bought many light bulbs with her own money and has been passing them out. But she'd like the city's help to expand the program.

Working with Councilmember Barry Groveman and Maureen Tamuri, the city's community development director, Jessie suggested putting a link on the city's website for those interested in receiving a light bulb. Other ideas include donation stations at public places to help buy the light bulbs and disposal areas for bulbs that no longer work.

"Jessie has demonstrated enormous motivation in seeking us out," Groveman told the council during a recent meeting. "I want to reward that energy. It's unusual and unique, and we should really take advantage of it."

But Jessie said she doesn't want to wait for months, the amount of time the city's staff members said it could take to get the cause on the website and the council's agenda. She's moving forward with another idea: selling reusable bags everywhere she can.

"I know Calabasas has intended to do ecofriendly things with bags, but I thought this would take it a step further," Jessie said. "I've never seen them sold in Ralphs and other places, and people don't want to go into Ralphs with a Trader Joe's bag. I want to create a Go Green Calabasas bag so people can take i t wherever they want."

Jessie's already contacted someone to silkscreen her design on bags, and she's ordering them herself. She's begun contacting major local stores in an effort to sell the bags for about $1.

"Calabasas was the first nonsmoking city, and I think it could be the first ecofriendly city also," she said.

Jessie was born in Calabasas and has lived there her entire life. She said her parents have influenced her environmental awareness, but watching Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth" gave her a hard push to do something.

"The effects are scary and devastating," Jessie said. "The issue of global warming is extremely important to think about," Jessie said. "We all need to do our part in the community. I'm hoping to start a chain reaction."

Seeing her classmates' reactions to the environmental issues the planet is facing was another major motivation, Jessie said.

"The students don't know a lot about it," Jessie said. "It sickens me that they still think it's okay to buy an F150 (truck)- they just don't care. They don't think it's going to affect them in their lifetime, but that's not true. In 50 years we are really going to see this, and it's not going to be pretty.

"I'm just sick of the ignorance, and I wanted to shed some light on the issue."

Jessie's parents are lawyers, and her older brother is studying at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Jessie is hoping to attend Stanford University or Berkeley and perhaps major in business, although she isn't sure about that yet.

"I want to experiment with a lot of different things," Jessie said. "I know I am outspoken on things. . . . I always thought one person can't make a difference. But if everyone does their part it will really make an impact today and in the future."

For information e-mail Jessie at jessiechsstudent@yahoo.com.