How Jane Goodall Helps Tampa Bay Kids Understand the Environment | Chronicle

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

Caymus founded Trash Turtles to “save the planet one piece of trash at a time.” The organization focuses on beach cleanups, environmental awareness and community outreach. Four years after it was founded as a school project, Trash Turtles is a nonprofit that has cleaned more than 300 miles of beach, raised money to install water refill stations and awarded scholarships.

There are young people like Caymus leading remarkable service projects like Trash Turtles throughout Tampa Bay, the country and the world. In this region, they now have additional support from Roots & Shoots, a Jane Goodall Institute youth action program that encourages young people to make a difference in their own way.

Conservation icon Jane Goodall launched Roots & Shoots in 1991 to help young people create positive change in their own communities. What began with a few members in Tanzania has grown to nearly 70 countries and all 50 states in the United States. A firm believer in the power of hope, Jane Goodall knows that each individual has the power to make a difference. Roots & Shoots provides the resources to develop community projects that can collectively make a meaningful difference.

Wanting to help communities come together to create greater impact, Roots & Shoots launched four basecamps across the United States as hubs for Roots & Shoots members. The Tampa Bay basecamp opened in September 2023, and we began focusing on how we can support youth with environmental projects, given the miles of shoreline and strong local interest in the issue.

To kick off our Tampa Bay Roots & Shoots alliance, we’re hosting Hope in Action on September 14-15. The goal is to help young people understand our environmental challenges and provide them with tools and ideas for projects they can undertake, from beach cleanups to planting seagrass.

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

The next day will be a day of action for young people attending the environmental summit, and we have a dozen projects planned.

Roots & Shoots has been helping Tampa Bay youth with their projects for about a decade. Our new base camp will be able to provide more specialized support to Roots & Shoots members who are developing their own projects. We can also 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 Tampa Bay Roots & Shoots alliance already includes about 30 organizations, including Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, Tampa Bay Watch, The Florida Aquarium and the Ocean Conservancy.

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On September 14, our Youth Environmental Summit at the Trop will feature a panel of young changemakers like Caymus. Chase and Zach Hartman of Tampa will also be in attendance. They founded Eco Brothers, which has led beach and park cleanups for the past eight years, helped hundreds of children turn stuffed animals into toys sent to shelters, and distributed more than 225,000 books to more than 65,000 area students.

Across Tampa Bay, young people are designing and implementing projects to preserve and protect our precious environment. Roots & Shoots strives to lend a helping hand and empower other young people who want to contribute.

Bonnie Eaton is the Tampa Bay Base Camp Coordinator for Roots & Shoots USA, the Jane Goodall Institute’s youth outreach program. Roots & Shoots supports youth projects in nearly 70 countries around the world.