KIDS FOR CONSERVATION
Conservation is Cool — No Butts About It!
When kids do great things for
the planet, that’s pretty cool, right?
When kids from our own commu-
nity come up with fantastic ideas
and plans, it’s even better! Megan
Hodge, Jake Lindeman and Andrew
Witak attend school at Oldham
County Middle School and they are
making amazing things happen.
Each year for competition, the
students in the engineering & robot-
ics group build LEGO ® robots to
perform certain tasks based on a
different theme. The goal is to come
up with and demonstrate innovative
solutions to problems. The judges
score the students not only on their
robot creations, but also on critical-
thinking skills, problem-solving
abilities and leadership qualities as
civic-minded citizens.
This past school year, the theme
for the competition was “Animal
Allies.” This meant the kids had to
find a human problem that animals
could help solve OR an animal prob-
lem that humans could help solve.
Laura Rissler, as a zoo keeper with
an extensive knowledge of wildlife
and challenges that animals face
in nature, helped the kids narrow
down their ideas. The key, Rissler
felt, was to help them come up with
something that other competitors
wouldn’t think of.
The students’ inspiration came
from a video they watched that
explained the dangers of cigarette
butts when eaten by birds. You
may have noticed that cigarette
butts stick around a long time when
they are thrown on the ground —
they don’t decompose very well.
When birds mistake these cigarette
parts for food and eat them, they
don’t break down in their diges-
tive system. The result is that the
birds feel constantly as though their
stomachs are full. They stop eat-
ing and many starve. This problem
"This problem touched
them on an emotional
level and they were
determined that
something must
be done."
to make their idea a reality. Laura
Rissler asked them, “If you really
want to make something happen,
how do you make it happen? If
you have a voice, who can help you
amplify it?” The students decided
that they probably couldn’t change
people’s smoking habits, but they
could reach out to politicians who
could help to educate people about
economic ties and also advocate
for a more environmentally-friendly
product. With trillions of cigarettes
smoked worldwide each year, this
small change created by a few local
students could have a HUGE global
impact!
As these kids learned from their
zoo keeper friend and mentor, Laura
Rissler, “You can be an engineer,
chemist or any other scientist, and
still be a conservationist at the same
time. Not everybody will go into an
animal career field, but everybody
has a responsibility to care for our
planet.” These students are sure to
have a bright future ahead and also
create a brighter future for us all —
because wonderful things happen
when we truly care about conserva-
tion!
Want to learn more about how to
become a conservation hero? Check
out LouisvilleZoo.org/BAH.
touched Andrew, Megan and Jake
on an emotional level and they were
determined that something must be
done. They felt confident that they
could improve upon a design that, in
most cases, had not changed since
it was first patented in the early
1800’s.
After some research and discus-
sion, what they came up with is
incredible. The three 8th grade kids
designed a cigarette filter made from
natural materials that are not harm-
ful to birds’ stomachs, break down
in nature when it rains and filter
out more toxins from the smoke
that people breathe in. The materi-
als used were cornstarch, activated
charcoal and cotton. The trio was
awarded second place
in the state competi-
tion. Last April, these
students took their
“green cigarette”
invention to the world
championship in St.
Louis, where they also
won an award! Not
only that — but one of
the judges happened
to be a patent lawyer.
Now, there is a patent
in the works for their
innovative concept!
From left: Coach Mark Lindeman, Jake Lindeman,
Jake, Andrew and
Megan Hodge, Andrew Witak, Coach Ashley Sakie
Megan are still working
Louisville Zoo Trunkline • Fall 2017 • 19