Captain Planet
The Captain Planet Foundation was established to empower young people to put into practice the message of environmental stewardship and teamwork that was promoted throughout the original Captain Planet TV Show. Schools and organizations around the world present their environmental projects to the Foundation and receive seed money to grow their ideas. To date, the foundation has funded 2,100 projects. Its ecoSolution™ Grants range from $500-$2,500 and are intended to support solution-oriented, youth-led projects that result in real environmental outcomes. They also have ecoTECH and ecoSTEM grants.
Recent grants supported amazing projects like these: “A student at Waterford High School built a 5-foot mini-sailboat (the Lancer) that successfully crossed the Atlantic. This was part of the student’s year-long research project where she was studying wind and currents in the ocean. The goal was for the drifter to document the pH changes across the North Atlantic as it went. The hope was that the boat would cross the Atlantic and be found by someone that could bring it to a local school, share the story and possibly fix the boat to return to the sea. The boat landed on a small island at the mouth of Galway Bay and was found by an 8-year-old girl and her father.”
Captain Planet Foundation has two funding cycles per year and awards hundreds of grants at a time. So think of a project, approach a teacher and get started!
How do I get started? Come up with a project idea which revolves around environmental stewardship, approach a teacher and then go to the Captain Planet Foundation website to apply for a grant.
How much time will this take? This is a high time commitment. Getting involved will require researching a project, persuading a teacher to assist you in applying for the grant, writing the grant proposal and then actually executing the project!
How do I expand this narrative arc? If science and environmental research is your narrative arc, consider building on this interest with one of the following:
Participate in a quick citizen science project that revolves around the environment or sustainability like The Big Microplastic Survey
Physically build and deploy satellite-tracked Student Drifters that track ocean currents and validate ocean models.
Enter an international biomimicry competition for middle and high school students.
Participate in the Ocean Heroes 3 day Ocean Plastic Pollution bootcamp over the summer
Cap off this arc with an impressive local impact project that involves sustainability in your local community like this Haul Your Daily Trash Stash Campaign.
HOT TIP: Ideally you should complement this project with all of the above suggestions, but if time is tight, then focus on the citizen science projects and the Student Drifters.