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Hey everyone, Steve Adubato, check this out.

You ever hear people say young people are apathetic?

They just don't care about very much.

Where are the leaders in our young people?

You're about to meet three extraordinary leaders who ar making a difference, who happen to be pretty darn young, three next generation, if you will.

Environmental advocates.

Part of our Making a Difference series we do in cooperation with the Rest Foundation.

First, Violet Reed is executive director of the Environmental Volunteers organization at 2026 Russ Berry Making a Difference Transformational Leadership Honoree Landon Hoberman is founder of the Student Environmental Ambassador Program and a 2026 Gen Z Russ Berry Making a Difference honorary, and also Srini Hall, who is founder of Recycle My Battery and also a 2026 Russ Berry Ge Z Making a Difference honoree.

I want to thank all of you for joining us, and I was honored to wish to let everyone know that we've been partners with the Rust Foundation for 30 years, longer than any of you have been around.

And I was I've been honored t emcee every one of those events.

And the the fac that the foundation has shifted, if you will to focusing on next gen leaders making a difference is so important.

So in that spirit, I want to make sure, since we're talking about environmental advocacy, Violet, help everyone understand what your organization, what your organization i and why you decided to dedicate so much of your life to this cause.

Sure.

So I'm the executive directo of the Environmental Volunteers organization, otherwise known as we're an environmental, not for profit.

We're pretty grassroots, meaning that we're operating pretty hyperlocal in the community, doing about a three pronged approach to environmental action.

So we have an educational community farming operation where we have two farms.

We're doing volunteer events, about 1200 volunteers a year, working with about 20 college interns, running different corporate scouts and service groups, and then doing workshops.

We're selling our produce and we're donating it.

We do trail building in partnership with New York New Jersey Trail Conference.

We do a big farm to school program with the Mall School District, and we do large scale trash cleanups and Stagg Hill and Marwa, where we've cleaned u about 850,000 pounds of trash.

But Violet, Violet, everyone's going to go on your website right now and find out more, but I'm interested in another piece of this.

Why why, why?

Well, you know what?

When I was in college, I was really looking for a passion.

I knew my passion was in environmental work, but I was an English major, so I started doing initiatives on my college campus.

The further environmental efforts there I was on the first Presidential task Force for Environmental Sustainability on campus, and a few other initiatives.

From there, I decided to let me do an internship and environmental ism, and I found it was the most dynamic summer of my life.

I was a farm crew intern.

I really liked how Mizo brought people into environmental issues through hands on work.

I think these days are so many issues with the environment and with different social issues.

It can feel like we're drowning in different causes that we could help with.

And so for me, it alleviated my environmental anxiet to be able to direct my energy towards a cause where I could see people in the environment changing around me.

Tell everyone how old you are.

I'm 29, 29.

You started this how long ago?

I started with me in 2017.

So nine years.

And how old are you?

I am 17, Steve.

Talk about student environmental ambassador program.

How did you start it?

Because you're the founder.

And why?

Yes.

So the studen Environmental Ambassador program came together about three years ago with me doing all these initiatives in my community.

I really wanted to get involved, as many other youth did, and I started doing an issue.

So I started leading town cleanups, started doing education campaigns, and also working with local restaurants to eliminate the automatic inclusion of CO2 tensors.

Where in love.

So I am based in.

We have a place in La Villette.

We know about your work and you're very well known there.

Keep going.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

So we start working and doing all of thes local initiatives and level at.

And when I was getting started at the same questions that other students have going on in their minds, how can I get involved?

Where do I get started?

I have so much of thi passion, energy and just fallen and wasn't capturing it all.

Volunteering may be allowed me to dispense maybe 20% of that passion, but I didn't have any ownership or leadership of the initiatives that allowed me to do the full 100%.

So she was created to empower other students an turn their passion into action by providing them with the tools that they need to implement initiatives in their community.

So after the success of the three communities, your business, your local and your school community in my town had lots of students coming up asking me how they can get involved.

We codified all the resources into what we call toolkits, and now provide those resources to students around the globe, and currently operate in over 11 countries and have almost 1500 ambassadors.

Well, you start in La Villette, there are a couple thousand people in La Villette, and now you are all over the world.

Amazing.

Tell everyone about your organization, the what is Recycle my battery A and B, you're the founder of it.

What is it?

Why is it and why are you leading it?

Please.

Niall.

Yeah.

So the first the end.

To answer your first question, my organization reset my battery.

It's a nonprofit organization that I started back in 2019 with one motive to educate people on the importance of recycling, use batteries properly while providing them with the opportunity to reset to their use batteries properly.

Over 15 billion batteries are thrown away each year world wide, and only 1 of the people around the world know about proper disposal of used batteries.

This is a big issue because batteries can cause serious fires and pollution in landfills, and that's why I decided to step up and act.

So I started researchin my battery to make things right and provide this awareness and provide this opportunity so that people can reset to their batteries properly.

So far, we have managed to recycle over 850,000 use batteries at state over 85 million people.

About this important process place over 1750 battery bins nationwide, and also build a team of over 1000 youth volunteers from over five plu countries to our organization.

Hold on one second.

By the way, how old are you?

I'm 17.

How did you get these young people to volunteer to be part of?

Recycle my battery, to actually get ou and make a difference like this?

Yeah, yeah.

So basically it's through events, social media and marketing.

So basically what we did was every day we post fun fact on social media about batteries and about why it's importan to recycle them just to just to hopefully inspire them to make a difference by joining reset my battery and starting this in their own communities.

In addition, we host events like batter drives, where we educate people and we give them the opportunity to reset their use batteries.

And we just give them that small little fliers and everything out.

And from here in our our story, that' what also inspires them to join.

And third is through interviews and sessions like this, we're able to amplify our voice and take this to the next level, inspiring the next generation of changemakers.

Real quick on this, Nial talked about using social media.

I'm Violet.

How important has social media been to growing your organization?

Yeah and I, I think I'm going to give an answer that maybe isn' exactly what you're looking for.

But actually social media doesn't have a huge impact on the work we do because we've been around for so long.

Word of mouth is really what passes along our events and our volunteer events.

We're known as this institution now for volunteerism.

And so people come because there's been this positive growth of knowledge in our community.

So really it's going to college classes.

It's teaching workshops.

It's going to the Ramsay Farmer's Market.

And that's really how we're getting people.

We actually don't have a huge following on social media that we love more.

Atlanta for you, social media.

So we actually tak an interesting approach to it.

C has no social media at all.

Which might be very I am not the best at social media.

And a key part of C is tha students are able to implement all of our initiatives without needing any funding.

So that's remains a core concept of C. So we are not funding no funding.

All I know funding, which is amazing.

We have students in Jamaica that didn't have a screen to projects their presentation, but they stood on top of their school roof and spoke out to their entire school through that.

But so with that aspect of it, all of our kind of outreach comes either through my personal Instagram or we have 17 fantastic partnerships where we collaborate with organizations, where we utilize their social media, and they are following to amplify, amplify our voic and reach all of the students.

Nicole, let me ask you, what does it mean to you and to the organization to receive that hono from the Ross Berry Foundation?

Yeah.

So to me and organization, it's a simply amazing.

It's more than just the recognition itself.

It's about making a difference by getting award and recognition like the rest.

Berry Award, like you mentioned, it can really help us set the stage, basically edge to other young people about the importance of resettling use batteries and empower them to become changemakers to another mission for research from a battery is to empower the next future generation to become changemakers, innovators and educators.

So through winning awards like the Raspberry Award, we can do exactly just that.

Inspire the next generatio to do what's right before it's too late.

By the way, it's a cash award as well.

I just want to be clear, Violet, for you, the worst Berry Making a Difference award means what?

Well, first, it's an honor.

But also, I think it shows that measles work is so relevan and impactful in the community.

The person who nominated me, Eric Fuchs, who is the founder of Mebo, he got the award in 2012.

And since then, the Berry Foundation has been almost a household name in vivo.

We've been so interconnected to the Rest Berry network.

They've helped us in so many different ways, from running capacity building workshops to highlighting us in their social media.

And so then in turn, get that award in the last year is Beyond and honor, and then also makes me feel more motivated to continue the work because I know that it's supported by the community at large.

By the way, I remember interviewing Eric when he started talkin about this, and to see you now carrying on his work is so important for you.

The award Russ Berry Making a Difference award.

Yeah, like Violet said, i really is an incredible honor.

First off.

And then our tagline at sea is that the students today determine the state of the environment tomorrow.

And I think receiving the award really confirms that and continues to motivate us to work with more and more students and show students all over that no matter how old you are, no matter where you come from, you can make significant difference just by turning your passion and turning into advocacy and action.

And I think rust as a foundatio really represents that as well.

To watch more Think Tank with Steve Adubato, find us onlin and follow us on social media.

You know, you told our producer and I want to follow up on this.

We're talking about youth led environmentalism is so important.

You said, because it'l we will inherit the consequences of poor earth stewardship.

Talk about that.

Yeah.

That really has both the positives and negatives to i of living with our consequences.

So whatever good we do, we will then see those positive consequences and be able to live in it and cherish it.

But it also comes with the bat as well.

So if we don't implement more sustainable practices, or if we don't correct some of our behavior, it's going to reflect on our ecosystem.

And our ecosystem really reverberates throughout the entirety of life in our in our social, in our health.

So by really recognizing the impac that our consequences can have and realize that we only have one shared system that everyone in the future will inherit, by looking at that worldview and really just taking on the idea of leaving something better than you found it is what I meant by that statement.

I'm curious about this.

What has it taken for you to be the leader?

That you are not just starting this organization, but growing at the way you have.

What's the essence of leadership for you?

Yes, and for me leadership is basically learning from your mistakes and handling challenges and actually growing from them.

So for reset from a battery, we have faced numerous challenges and a lot of people when they face a challenge.

What I observed is in my own school and elsewhere to this, some people just stop when they see a challenge.

But being a good leader is actually using those challenges to your advantage and turning them into opportunities.

What recycle my battery faced in the initial start is we faced issues with local retailers when we were giving our batteries for proper recycling, but instead of letting that serve as a challenge, I use that as an opportunity to find another organization to help support us and aid us with our recycling efforts.

So to me, to basically sum it up and to use that example.

A good leade is someone who uses challenges as opportunitie and grows from those challenges.

So that's what we did at reset from a battery.

We grew from that challeng and we used it to our advantage, and we used it as an opportunity to expand nationwide.

And now we're in the process of expanding to even more countries abroad as well.

You know, it's interesting listening to you.

No matter how old or young you are as a leader, what you just described does not ever change the essence of leadership in many ways.

There's a researche by the name of Angela Duckworth who coined the phrase grit, grit in leadership.

And she said, basically, the best leaders are the ones who never give up, regardless of the obstacles, regardless of the challenges.

They have grit.

They have perseverance.

They they jus don't see quitting as an option.

Violet, for you, how important has your grit been for the success not only for you, but for the organization you lead?

Yeah, it's been a huge part of it, especially when you're running a not for profit.

You get a lot of knows, you get a lot of nos.

Oh, you two you two get a lot of thos okay I get you get a lot of nose and you often get them in times where you really need a. Yes.

So then pandemic a lot of funding changes right now in the not for profit landscape.

A lot of doors are closing, but you just have to trust that those doors are going to be open, and sometimes you have to open those doors yourself.

Like you can' wait for a funder to swoop in.

You have to be knocking on doors and you have to be, you know, humbl and go to funders and say, hey, can we maybe have more funding and more support?

And so Grant is huge and I think it's really carries us through in my team.

My team has huge grit and so they help support me in those efforts.

What is farm to school, Violet?

Yeah, farm to schoo is one of our newest programs.

It was a USC supported grant and it's when we partnered let's the jargon the acronyms.

What's that stand for?

Yeah, the USDA is the United States Department of Agriculture.

They had a federal grant program where they would support organizations and school districts to do agricultural education or procurement operations, with the school bringing in fresh produce.

So we did an agricultural education grant where we wen into the model school district.

We built three elementary school gardens.

We had elementary school students come to our farms.

We did in garden education programs, and we're growing produce with the aim of and going into the school cafeterias.

And through this program, we have our first high school internship who are helping us curate the gardens through the summer so that when students come back in the fall, the gardens are still abundant.

School garden all often fail in the summertime when there's no one to tend to them.

Lennon, you've brought in a fai number of volunteers, correct?

Yes, Steve.

Younger people like you.

So when I see our daughter, who's turning 16, and many others addicted.

And by the way, a lot of us are addicte as well, regardless of our age.

How the heck do you get young people to put the phone down and to say, yeah, I want to be part of what you're doing.

And this phone has a lot of great uses in communication getting information, etc., etc.

is a distraction to focusing on what we need to do.

I know it's a loaded question, but I often think about this.

Put it down.

It'll be there when you get back to it, and you can go back o Instagram, TikTok or whatever.

How do you get folks to focus on what environmental activism and stewardship and advocacy is all about?

I think a lot of the time it just starts with connection.

So whatever that aspect is, finding shared interests finding those shared passions, whether it's environmental or not, and really using that to start the conversation.

So technology is so empowering.

But as you said, it can also be distraction as well.

The connection can be established over the internet, but really expanding it t verbal, in-person communication and then bridging off of that is a great way to lean.

So whether it's combining a passio for food and talking about that, and then talking about the leeway into food insecurity and environmental areas like that, we're just going for a walk in LA.

La, as you know, it is a beautiful community, but we have pollution.

Just seeing that plastic bottle and picking it up.

So I think connection and really trust is the thing that catapults us off of our phone and into direct action as well.

And that and substantial student passion and energy that you have is just a great leeway into it as well.

Well, let me ask you thi as it relates to getting other young people engaged in environmental activism and advocacy and stewardship, what from your experience, Niihau resonates with many.

I'm not having to say most with many young people in terms of recruiting them into the organization.

What motivates them?

Yeah.

So one thing that I realized motivates the is the first thing that we do is we throw jaw dropping farts at them, stats that basically make them sto and think about the batteries.

About batteries.

Yeah.

So like that's it.

Billion batteries are thrown away or showing them pictures of the fires and all the pollution that's being caused it.

This makes them stop and think, thinking about what they do with their used batteries.

Basically, we use jaw dropping fat like that to make them immediately connect to what they do and immediately realize that their actions are wrong.

The second thing that we do is incentives.

We provide incentives, and we provide things that the battery challenge, for example, which are fu school challenges that we offer, where we to parties, to the classrooms that recycle the most amount of use batteries.

Through incentives like this, we also motivate children and students to make the right choice and change their behavior to reset to their batteries.

So through jaw dropping, jaw dropping.

Hold on a second, I interrupt.

Go back.

You said fires.

I'm.

I was looking at all the notes and batteries can cause if they're not disposed of the correct way and by the way, help people understand how the heck they would find out the correct way to dispose of it.

And can we find that out on your website?

Yes, yes.

And go on my website and you can check out the areas where you can reset your batteries, or you can even request for a battery bit.

And we would be happy to give you a battery bin a battery what battery bin.

Battery bin okay.

What is the battery been.

So yeah so a battery bin.

It's a it's a say it's a bin that's meant for safe disposal use batteries.

So inside there's insulation.

So our supporter organization called the recital.

We worked with them in order to get these bins in schools, libraries, areas with high public footprints.

So these bins have insulation inside of them.

So even if there's a short circuit of a battery inside o the bin, it is fully contained.

So regardles of what happens in the bin, it's and does not interrupt anything outside, making it very safe way to collect, transport and dispose of the used batteries all on time out.

I just took literally today.

I took two batteries out of a remote control that wasn't working, and I put it on the counter in the kitchen because I didn't know what to do with it.

My instinct was to throw it in the garbage.

I should not do that anymore, right?

Yes.

He should not do that.

Where would I find?

Where would we get?

Not just for me.

It's for anyone.

Where would we get this bin?

This battery bin?

Yeah, yeah.

So if you just want a battery bin to place in your public location, you can go on our website and you can request for a battery bin.

However, since you only have two batteries, and if you're looking for an easy, convenient wa to dispose of these batteries, you can simply take them to Staples at Home Depot.

They accept these use batteries, and they often give reward points for them.

Just just as a small incentive to thank you for doing the right thing.

I'm finding out so much jus listening to all three of you.

Listen, we have a minute and a half left.

So many people ar so pessimistic, and I understand that there's so many struggles, but 30s or less.

Pilot.

Why are you optimistic about our environmental futur with all the challenges we face?

Pilot.

Optimistic.

I think more and more people are realizing that nature is healing.

In order for nature to continue to heal us, we have to become stewards of it.

I'm also optimistic because I think people come through an organization change by interacting with the soil, being in the forest shell building.

I think action comes by doing and change comes by doing.

And so that brings me grea optimism to see people engaging in our work, in your optimism about environmental and about our environment.

I think a lot of my optimism comes from seeing all of the youth that we work with.

So from our ambassadors ranging all over that have all this energy, and they're directing it solely to trying to heal the world around us, but then also all of the youth that they're connecting to as well.

So when we do presentations and when other ambassadors do presentations, seeing all of that siphon of kindergartens going all the way up to eighth grade and then seeing that, seeing them turn into high schoolers and then college students and still continuing on and really seeing that thi youth generation cares so much and that they're turning that carrot, as Violet said, action is doing.

Few seconds left knee hal optimism about our environment.

Go ahead.

So my optimism comes from the action and impact that I see.

So for example, all the people recycling the use batteries, every scene shows like this or after me talking to them of the battery jobs that are members do of the events, as well as when a person comes up to me and ask me what I could do with my use batteries after seeing me, or if a person comes up to me and says, hey, I saw you on the news.

I decided to recycle my use batteries and I told my family to recycle two.

After seeing impact like that, that makes me really optimisti that we can and we really can.

If we work together as a team make the world a better place.

So to you, to land and to Violet, I know why I'm optimistic, and I know why a lot of people who just watch this half hour or any portion of this program, are optimistic is because of leaders like you, recognized by our partners and friends at the Rest Berry Foundation for making a difference.

Congratulations.

More work to be done.

And you honor us not just by being with us, but doing the work you do every day.

Thanks so much.

I'm Steve Adubato.

Those are three reasons t be optimistic about our future.

See you next time.

Think tank with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provide by the Russell Berry Foundation, PCG Foundation, Community Food Bank of new Jersey, the new Jersey Education Association.

South Jersey industries, Horizon, Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey RWJ.

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