TEEN SCENE
Welcome to Teen Scene. Each month,
our young authors write, in their own voice,
stories that will educate and inform fellow
students and parents. If you are a teen who
would like to write your story, contact The
Journal. We’ll help you polish it up, so
don’t worry, let’s just get to sharing.
This month’s author is 17-year-old
Olivia Fair, a junior at Henry Hudson
Regional High School in Highlands,
and a member of Clean Ocean Action’s
inaugural Student Environmental
Advocates and Leaders (SEAL) program,
a new program funded by Impact 100
Jersey Coast. As we spend more time at
our beaches and enjoying other outdoor activities, remember
that nature is a living thing, deserving of our respect. When you pay
attention, Mother Nature will teach you many lessons, and Olivia Fair
has been one of her most passionate students. Here is Olivia’s story.
I knew two things from when I was little: I loved nature, and garbage has to
go somewhere. It wasn’t long after putting those two things together that
my family and I began volunteering at the bi-yearly Beach Sweeps conducted
by Clean Ocean Action. Each spring and fall, thousands of people up and
down the Jersey Shore walk the beaches, collecting litter which is then tallied
and disposed of properly.
Through my many years of volunteering at Beach Sweeps, I observed society’s
need for convenience. I realized how mindlessly we abuse nature and
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er plastic debris in tiny pieces, some as small as a grain of sand, began to seriously
worry me. At home, we eliminated almost all plastics from our kitchen.
We ditched plastic cups, utensils, storage containers and plastic wrap. We use
and we each have our own portable glass water bottles and ceramic travel cof-
eliminates the excessive amount of plastic in the recycling and trash bins.
I also am a nature lover. I enjoy all the animals and wildlife around me
and have always been interested in good nutrition and healthy living. Long
before there were modern pharmaceuticals, people used herbs and food as
medicine, curing things like bad breath by chewing on peppermint and taming
upset stomachs with nettle or chamomile tea. It was long a dream of mine
to create an accessible community garden where people take whatever they
needed to nourish or heal themselves.
My interest in organic gardening spiked a few years ago, when I devel-
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cult to play my instrument with cracked, blistering and bleeding hands – one
of the many consequences of eating gluten. I had to drastically change my eating
habits. Processed foods were off the table, but so many gluten-free foods
were tasteless and expensive. Eating lunch in school was torture. It seemed
40 JULY 2021 | TheJournalNJ.com
BY LORI DRAZ AND OLIVIA FAIR
like an apple was my only choice. I would even bring
my own food to parties.
My best choices were properly prepared fruits and
Meals were a lot of work for my family, but as we began
using more herbs and spices in our home-cooked
dinners, we learned to make tasty, healthy dishes that
were a pleasure to eat.
I so enjoy working with COA, and I was excited and
Student Environmental Advocates and Leaders program.
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rience despite the challenges of working on this project
during a worldwide lockdown. We met virtually bi-monthly
starting in January to collaborate and connect. Initially,
the discussions were on current world issues, and each
week, we had an action item to complete. That forced us to explore both political
and environmental world events and research the work of other advocates.
This research allowed us to expand our minds and free our creativity which led
to our community projects.
so I knew that food insecurity and a lack of a local market was an issue faced by
many residents in our town. This reminded me of my dream project of starting
a community garden. Finding the right location was now my challenge, and of
course, there were all the restrictions of the pandemic.
Then a close family friend who is also a member of the Highlands First Aid
told me they wanted to add a mural to their building in downtown Highlands.
I’m an art student, and I was happy to help them paint a design on the building.
That’s when I asked them about using their vacant back lot to create a community
garden. One of the members inspired by the project pitched in and built
some heavy-duty planters to expand on my original design. Local residents also
donated pots. I purchased organic soil, rocks for drainage and organic fertilizer.
Next, I went on a tough hunt for organic seeds, which I eventually found in
Ocean County and had to rush to get them planted in time to complete the
project. This was a perfect opportunity to show my 7-year-old nephew how to
plant and fertilize the seedlings. I felt very proud that I was introducing him to
the joys of growing food as my mother had once done for me.
The entire SEAL team, our education coordinator, Kristen Grazioso, and
the staff at COA made this experience rewarding and educational, even though
came up with really interesting, diverse and challenging projects that required
them to reach out to the community or government leaders. I am quite proud
to have been an inaugural member. It is my hope to be an ambassador next
year and introduce the program to students in Monmouth County.
I am pursuing a career in psychology with a focus on art and music therapy,
but healthy living and environmental issues will always be things I will
embrace throughout my life. I hope my story encourages other young people
to get involved in their community and pursue their passions.
/TheJournalNJ.com