Local Advocates for a Healthy Future

The Mission

The Environmental Youth Action Corp (EYAC) is a local service organization composed of village youth who are trained as educators and advocates for conservation and to enlighten community members about human-caused sources of pollution and the effects on public health.

The Need

There is great need for an understanding of how environmental degradation will affect public health now and in the future. Western civilization’s unsustainable overuse of disposable plastics has encroached on rural communities. When plastics are burned, they release chemical emissions which are highly toxic, such as dioxin.

Discarded batteries, like other trash, are buried, burned, or littered, and are frequently handled by young children who put them in their mouths.  The batteries contain cadmium, lead and mercury, which can cause cancer, birth deformities, and arrested brain development.  Corroded and burned batteries also leach into soil and water.

Educating about these and other environmental public health issues can have a profound difference in the health of communities.

The Approach

To become a member of EYAC, local youth attend workshops to learn about the health hazards and prevention of environmental pollution entering the air, food chain, and water system. The workshops teach students about the hazards of improper disposal of batteries, the burning of plastics, the use of dangerous farm chemicals, and many other environmental and public health threats.  They also learn about what they can do and why they should plant trees. At the end of the training, each participant plants a tree, takes a pledge of advocacy, receives a certificate of completion, and a button proclaiming he or she is an “Earth Caretaker.”

The EYAC meets regularly to share ideas, plan service projects, and uses theater and activities to spread their message to the community.

How you can help

To  donate  to the EYAC is to support the training of new members and provide funds for supplies and the purchase of trees.

You can volunteer to work with a local village EYAC and join them in their advocacy work (curriculum provided).