Hi my name is Ashley Mae and I am a Helping Ninja!
Today I learned about the Trick Or Trash zero waste boxes that give kids like me a chance to recycle our candy wrappers after Halloween!
We decorated boxes! (That me!)
It is better to recycle our candy wrappers because it can help the bees. Pollution can hurt bees habbitats. Did you know that if you look at the store now while we have bees there will be tons of fruits, vegetables, and dairy items but without the bees there would be none of that. Another reason is because it can help save the sea life environment. For example there would be no turtles nothing. Those are the reasons why we need to recycle our candy wrappers.
We decorated a box to collect candy wrappers. Once it is full we will transfer into the Rubicon Global and Terra Cycle Boxes. We are going to collect candy wrappers at home. Once I collect them ill take Them to school and put them in the box we made.
This is one of the pictures I made.
These are the students in the Helping Ninja club creating signs to teach other kids about recycling candy wrappers!
I am nine years old. I like helping the Earth. I like being a Helping Ninja!
Ten year old, Leo Bery, Helping Ninjas™ founder and his mother, CEO, Lindsey Fella Berry and Indianapols Moms Blog contributing writer appeared on WISH TV in Indianapolis, letting others know how they too can have a more sustainable Halloween!
Pumpkins are smashed, and the aftermath is here! Now, what do I do?
Smashing pumpkins sounds fun, but the composting part may scare you!
Composting is not so spooky!
It’s actually a lot easier then you think, and the alternative?
Dumping the pumpkin in your trash bin, and adding more food waste to our landfills, encouraging more toxins into our air, ground, water — is wayyyspookier!
Halloween pumpkins are an excellent opportunity to explore composting!
Learning to compost at an early age creates a better chance that children will continue to do so as adults. Children who learn to conserve nature and help to reduce waste as part of their education are more likely to continue to make sustainable choices independently.
Composting is a sustainable and circular way to live.
Graduation was an exciting time because I finally achieved what I had been working towards for the past five years: my Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology.
After my work this summer at Dauphin Island, I didn’t really know what was going to happen.
But after that, all I did was play the waiting game while we anticipated hearing back from dozens of jobs that we had applied for. Refreshing my email, spamming the job boards for the AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums), double-checking to make sure I had applied for the ones I wanted, etc. This was my life for weeks. I had finally settled on staying in Auburn for a while longer to continue the job search when my boyfriend landed an engineering position at a firm in Tampa, Florida. This was a complete shock to both of us! I had also applied for a couple of positions at the Florida Aquarium, but I had yet to hear back from them about an interview.
To my surprise, I got an interview for a position that was going to take place two days after we moved to Tampa! I had less than two weeks to find an apartment, set up utilities and internet, move all of our stuff out of the storage unit into a U-Haul, and drive a total of ten hours down to Tampa. That the most stressful time of my life, so far. I thought school was hard, but I had to grow up faster than I ever thought I had to.
Fortunately, I was offered the position with the Florida Aquarium and am currently employed!
I am a “Guest Engagement Facilitator,” which is a fancy title for a type of informal educator for the guests who visit the aquarium. My official position is actually at the TECO (Tampa Electric Company) Manatee Viewing Center (MVC) about thirty minutes south of the aquarium at Apollo Beach where I will be educating guests about the stingrays in the touch pool that the Florida Aquarium has partnered with TECO to provide. The stingrays are actually the official mascots of the Tampa Bay Rays, the major league baseball team across the bay in St. Petersburg, Florida. They need a place to reside during the off-season, so the Florida Aquarium watches over them at the MVC from October to April.
In the mean time before I start working there November 1st, I have been helping out with education at the touch pools at the main Aquarium and learning from the veterans and developing my own style of teaching and spreading awareness to guests about the importance of the animals in our care.
It’s been amazing to inspire and educate children and adults on the importance of conservation of these animals that I get to work with.
I recently got to participate in my first event at the Aquarium called “Guppyween,” which is the yearly Halloween event. I got to dress up in costume at work, which was an absolute blast. It makes me wish I could dress like that every day.
The amazing thing about the Florida Aquarium is all of the conservation work that is being done with corals at the Florida Keys. If you haven’t seen on the news, just recently in August a breakthrough was made with Atlantic coral through the efforts of biologists at the Aquarium’s Center for Conservation in Apollo Beach.
The Aquarium was the first to successfully induce spawning of Atlantic corals in a laboratory, which is extremely important for the success of the species in the wild. The Aquarium also grows and replants corals out in the Florida Keys to help build up populations in reefs in the wild. All of the efforts of the Florida Aquarium are for the education and conservation of our oceans, and I am so blessed to be a part of their mission. To see more about what the Florida Aquarium does, please visit their website at https://www.flaquarium.org/conservation.
Ill be writing soon about the Manatee Viewing Center in Apollo Beach. I can’t wait to get down there to start working in a new environment with new animals! Stay tuned!
A composting jar activity is a fun and cool experiment for kids to learn about compost and watch it in action. Kids love to watch and will learn first-hand that composting is very cool! A healthy compost has four elements: Nitrogen, Carbon, Water and Air.
Rubicon#TrickOrTrash campaign provides youth and families a means to recycle candy wrappers! Candy is collected and shipped back to TerraCycle in a custom designed recycling box, paid for by Rubicon, to be recycled. Candy wrappers are not recyclable at curbside and municipal recycling centers.
TerraCycle will recycle or compost the fibers of the candy wrappers, avoiding the landfill altogether! Rubicon is also offering a lesson plan to educators to learn more about reducing waste and making sustainable choices: TrickOrTrash.com
Candy is collected and shipped back to TerraCycle in a Zero Waste Box to be recycled. TerraCycle will recycle or compost the fibers of the candy wrappers, avoiding the landfill altogether!
Helping Ninjas Brooklyn Halloween Clean Up
For two years Helping Ninjas Kathy and Flynn have been collecting candy wrappers in their community in Brooklyn! Now with the help of Rubicon, those wrappers have a way to be recycled verses to the landfill!
Helping Ninjas Kathy and Flynn, Brooklyn, New York], Spectrum Ny1 News
Helping Ninjas Sahana and Sidhaarth in Texas are collecting wrappers in her community for Trick or Trash.
Here is a video that Sahana & Sid made last year while living in Tampa, Florida!
Drop Off Candy Wrapper Location
Helping Ninjas is collecting candy wrappers throughout sixteen cities in the United States via candy wrapper drop off locations in businesses, schools and neighborhoods. To see a list of participating businesses, schools and student groups and/or to join efforts locally and get more information: Drop Off Locations
Did you know that nearly 600 million candy wrappers are sent to landfills each year from Halloween?
Did you know in a landfill, some candy wrappers can take hundreds of years to decompose, some even thousands! Scary! What is even more startling is that there has not been any option for consumers to recycle candy wrappers in our country ever, until now! Thanks to Rubicon there is another option for our empty candy wrappers!
Helping Ninjas™ Founder and Creator Leo Berry
Helping Ninjas founder of Helping Ninas is helping to empower youth in across the globe by providing opportunites for kids to learn to become highly skilled at helping.
For a second year in a row, Helping Ninjas youths are collecting Halloween candy wrappers to be recycled. Helping Ninjas founder and his mother, CEO, Lindsey Fella Berry appeared on WISH TV in Indianapolis today letting others know how they can have a more sustainable Halloween!
Helping Ninjas, Inc. is a non-profit organization based in Carmel, Indiana whose mission is to create opportunities for youth to learn to become highly skilled at helping the world – the planet, each other, and oneself.
Helping Ninjas are collecting candy wrappers throughout sixteencities in the United States via organizing candy wrapper drop off locations in businesses, schools and neighborhoods in participation in Rubicon’s Trick or Trash. Helping Ninjas are supporting efforts to reduce waste to landfills and participate in Rubicon’s Trick or Trash a second year in a row.
Helping Ninja Layla
Helping Ninjas Founder Leo and siblings Layla, Sawyer and Skyler celebrated Sawyer and Skylers birthdays this month and celebrated zero waste and Halloween style!
Leo, Layla and their siblings and with the help of their mother and CEO of Helping Ninjas, Lindsey, together they organized the participation of approximately 100 Helping Ninja families and local businesses/schools/student groups across sixteen different cities, and helped to get youth involved in Rubicon’s Trick or Trash and opportunity to learn.
Helping Ninja Saniah
Helping Ninja Saniah and her siblings Saigan, Maison and Maejor are collecting wrappers in their neighborhood, school, and dad’s office! Their father, Dr. Marcus Mcray is collecting candy wrappers in a Rubicon Trick or Trash box at his chiropractor office! Marcus is the owner of Excel Chiropractor Studio and Invoke Pilates and Yoga Studio and is the official chiropractor of the Indianapolis Colts. The Helping Ninja McCray family have been a part of Helping Ninjas since founded in 2018 and are taking part in Trick or Trash for a second year!
Helping Ninja Kate
Helping Ninja Kate in San Diego, California is collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash. Kate is a contributing write to Helping Ninjas Blog. Check out her trips for a more sustainable Halloween!
Helping Ninja Sammie
Helping Ninja Sammie in Fort Wayne, Indiana is collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Sammie has a new PODCAST: Sammie Smiles! In episode 2, Sammie interviews pen pal and CEO of Ryan’s Recycling Ryan Hickman. They talk about all things recycling and helping the environment — and about her involvement in Helping Ninjas and Trick or Trash!
Helping Ninja Avi
Helping Ninja Avi in Carmel, Indiana is collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Helping Ninja Malone and Frankie
Helping Ninjas Malone and Frankie in Pheonix, Arizona are collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Helping Ninja Mac
Helping Ninjas Mac in Las Vegas, Nevada is collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Helping Ninja Harper and Emma
Helping Ninjas Harper and Emma in Lexington Kentucky are collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Helping Ninja Isabella and Declan
Helping Ninjas Isabella and Declan in Nashville, Tennessee are collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Helping Ninja Bhavya
Helping Ninjas Bhavya in Noblesville, Indiana is collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash. Bhavya is Indiana’s Jr Pre-teen National Miss Princess 2020.
Helping Ninja Quinn
Helping Ninjas Quinn in Fishers, Indiana is collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Helping Ninjas Flynn
Helping Ninjas Flynn in Brooklyn, New York is collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Helping Ninjas Thatcher
Helping Ninjas Malone and Frankie in Denver, Colorado is collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Helping Ninjas Maria
Helping Ninja Maria in Boston, Massachusetts is collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Helping Ninjas Amy
Helping Ninjas Amy, Elijah, and Hannah in Greenwood, Indiana are collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Helping Ninjas Lucas
Helping Ninja Lucas in Wilmette, Illinois is collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Helping Ninjas
Helping Ninjas The Grant Family in Chicago, IL are collecting wrappers in her community for Rubicon’s Trick or Trash.
Learn how you can get involved this Halloween!
Helping Ninjas encourages and provides an opportunity to youth throughout the year to create their own at home “TerraCycle” home-made zero waste boxes to collect snack wrappers and other items that are not reachable at municipal curbside recycling centers, and now Halloween candy wrappers!
Check out these awesome Helping Ninjas at West Clay Elementary in Carmel, Indiana at the Carmel Clay Parks and Recreations after school enrichment program, ESE Helping Ninjas Club! These Helping Ninjas are collecting candy and snack wrappers to be recycled at Terra Cycle!
Eating for energy. Learn to make sustainable food choices that fuel your body and the planet!
Sustainable food items improve the quality of life, age, illness and ensures the safety of our families and our planet. Educating ourselves on this will allow us to understand food consumption. The choices made about what food we consume, how it was produced and manufactured, ultimately affects our health and the health of our children. The food we eat directly has either positive or adverse effects on our body and our environment. The choice of whether to choose foods that are sustainably made or not –is ours.
Steps to ensure you are eating: a nutritious and beneficial and environmentally conscious diet – and how to choose food choices that conserve our planet’s energy and provide us energy.
