Louisville Zoo Polar Student Reduces Carbon Emissions Via Website Pledges

By Kara Bussabarger

Louisville, KY - Emily Goldstein, an 18-year-old Atherton High School senior and the Louisville Zoo’s first Teen Arctic Ambassador, is working hard to stop climate change and reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Goldstein, along with friend Brandie Farkas, has created the “Project Polar Bear” website at www.louisvillezoo.org/projectpolarbear to educate and convince individuals to make necessary changes in their life to help solve the world-wide climate crisis.

The website idea was formed after the Louisville Zoo selected Goldstein to be the Zoo’s first teen ambassador during a week-long Polar Bear International Leadership Camp in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada last year.

She joined 15 other high school students from around the world to study polar bears during their fall migration and collect field data with scientists.

As part of the camp, Goldstein was required to create a forward action plan to help educate her peers and the Louisville community about conservation issues once she returned home. “Project Polar Bear” is part of that.
“With this website, I want to share with everyone that it is up to us all to halt global climate change, and every single person can make a difference,” Goldstein said. “If everyone would make even small changes in their lifestyles, it would add up to make the big changes necessary to save not only the polar bears, but the whole planet.”

“Project Polar Bear” website contains information and resources on polar bears and climate change in the form of quizzes, a photo gallery and journal. It also offers tips for conserving energy and a commitment pledge to reduce one’s carbon footprint by making simple changes. For example, one can pledge to replace five of his/her most used 75-watt incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs, which saves 500 pounds of carbon emissions per year.

Goldstein has been tracking the pledges and so far more than 700 people (in 26 states and oversees) and eight businesses and organizations have committed to saving more than 9.827 million pounds of carbon a year! Jefferson County Public School system alone has pledged to save more than 8 million pounds of carbon a year by shutting down computers, monitors and printers each night.

“One ton of CO2 fills up a football stadium,” Goldstein said, “so we are very happy that we will save more than 4,900 stadiums worth of CO2 emissions in the next year. And that’s just so far—we have many more pledges to come.”

Goldstein continues to ask local businesses and organizations to take the pledge as well as talking to Congressmen in Washington, D.C.

She also entered the website into an international contest sponsored by Polar Bear International (http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/project-polar-bear/) that challenges teens to develop community projects that will reduce the carbon dioxide load in the atmosphere. The contest ends on December 31, and grand prize is a trip to the polar bear capital of the world—Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.

“I can’t imagine a world without polar bears,” she said. “These magnificent animals exemplify the awesome beauty of the Arctic. Yet polar bears and their ecosystem are on the brink of destruction and extinction, threatened by our abuse and neglect. The mighty, magnificent polar bear has become a symbol of hope for a change in our global policies, in our need to fix the damage the human race has caused.”

BACKGROUND
Goldstein’s love for animals began when she was very young, and at age 13 she began volunteering for the Zoo. So far, she has more than 400 volunteer hours and serves on the Zoo’s Youth Board. She even nabbed the 2007 Giraffe Area Youth Volunteer Award.

In 2006 she started a recycling program to collect aluminum can tabs for the Zoo’s Animal Enrichment Fund. So far, she has raised more than $800.

Goldstein established the Marine Biology Club at Atherton High School two years ago and was elected president. She is a member of Partnership for a Green City, a city-wide collaborative environmental group working to improve environmental education, environmental health and environmental management in Louisville, and is currently organizing a city-wide plastic awareness day for 2009.

Her mother Debbie said the Goldstein home is becoming “green” because of Emily’s influence.

“We recycle everything, use fluorescent bulbs, have turned the water heater and thermostat back, and she even makes me unplug everything after we use it … the computer, TV and more. I didn’t realize that they suck energy even when they are not on,” Debbie said. “Emily is truly educating us.”

Emily Goldstein said her goal is to one day be a zoo veterinarian and eventually a zoo director. She is well on her way—she is already a Louisville Zoo Backyard Action Hero for youth and teens (www.louisvillezoo.org/BAH).

Seventeen-year-old Farkas, who also volunteers at the Louisville Zoo, has many dreams for her future including being a veterinarian, plastic surgeon or possibly an artist.

“There are so many options,” she said. “Whatever I chose to do, I will continue to love animals and try to help our environment.”

The Louisville Zoo, a non-profit organization and state zoo of Kentucky, is dedicated to bettering the bond between people and our planet by providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for visitors, and leadership in scientific research and conservation education. The Zoo is accredited by the American Association of Museums (AAM) and by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).