Trash: Waste? Not!

After brown-bagging it for years, 16-year-old Zach Udko realized he had probably thrown away hundreds of lunch bags. What a waste, he thought, and came up with a plan. "I made a reusable lunch bag," says Udko. "By using the bag, we can stop wasting paper and help save our trees."

"The bag's made of nylon and it's shaped like a paper lunch bag," says the teen, who attends The Brentwood School in Los Angeles. There's a velcro strip on its flap top, so you can close it and pull it open.

Zach came up with a unique way to sell his invention--and get others to care about the environment. He wrote and produced a musical called Save Our Planet, starring himself and nine other teens. "The play includes a scene about a kid who makes a reusable lunch bag." Since the bag is featured in the play, Udko sells them after each performance for $6.95 each. The cash covers the cost of making more bags.

So far, Udko has taken his eco-act to schools throughout Los Angeles. The play is now being considered for a performance at the children's theater at the Los Angeles County Museum of Science and Industry.

After hearing about Zach's work, other kids are getting into the act, too. For example, Zach gave permission to students at the Thurston Elementary School in Kentucky to perform his play for their Earth Day celebration. "The response has been great," Udko says.

Udko has been devoted to environmental work since the sixth grade. His science teacher made him aware of the abundance of waste and pollution in the environment, he says. A year later, Udko and fellow ecology-club members took action by helping to strengthen their school's recycling program. "We set up trash bins all over our school and told our classmates how important it is to recycle," Udko says.

The Brentwood teens' recycling project was a big hit. Their success is part of what inspired Udko to educate younger kids about the environment. The earlier kids learn, he explains, the quicker they can help save our planet.

"We're running out of nature's resources, so it's important that we save what we have and reuse the materials we can. There should be recycling programs in every school and college," Udko says. "And if there aren't, teens should start them."

Fact: Paper waste makes up 41 percent of the garbage in U.S. landfills.