Photo by Karen Quincy Loberg

Westlake High School students Andrew Lin, left, and Alex Friedman have started Plant Your Pennies, a grass-roots effort to protect wildlife while building environmental awareness. They have placed donation boxes in Westlake Village restaurants.

High school students Alex Friedman and Andrew Lin wanted to do something meaningful with their summer vacation.

So they launched Plant Your Pennies, a fundraising effort that supports the World Wildlife Fund's mission to protect wildlife while building a sense of environmental awareness in local communities.

"After brainstorming many ideas, the environment and wildlife stood out as an important cause that continues to go unnoticed, despite the fact that the environment is continuously degrading around us," said Lin, 16, of Thousand Oaks, who will be a senior at Westlake High when school begins next week.

Part of what sets their fundraiser apart from others is the ground level of its grass roots.

"Plant Your Pennies was started from scratch simply because Alex and I wanted to do something to help the earth," Lin said.

"We don't quite have the same manpower or resources as a Red Cross drive," he said, "but all of our efforts are focused in this community, and we hope because of that we can make a much bigger and far more personal impact on those around us."

'Reach out to the community'

To accomplish their mission, Lin and Friedman placed donation boxes in restaurants throughout the Westlake Village area, such as The Natural Cafe and Robeks Juice. They have received donations from local patrons as well as support from family and friends.

Once school gets back in session, they plan to host a Plant Your Pennies drive at their alma mater, Lang Ranch Elementary, and other schools in the area.

In the first two weeks of the campaign, the teens said they already had raised around $100 from patrons and about $70 in change from donation boxes at local restaurants and stores.

Originally, Plant Your Pennies was just going to be a summer project to raise money for the World Wildlife Fund and to build a better sense of environmental awareness in the area, Friedman said. "However, with the amount of response and support we have received from the community, we knew that what we have created has great potential and holds the ability to inspire others to pursue their own causes," said the 18-year-old, who will also be a senior at Westlake High.

The fact that Plant Your Pennies is solely run by two high school students sets it — and them — apart. And that fact helps to motivate them, Friedman said.

"Not only is Plant Your Pennies seeking to better the world we live in but furthermore to reach out to the community and prove to them that anybody of any age can make a difference," Friedman said. "I believe setting this example truly makes our cause unique. Regardless of how much money we end up raising, we truly hope people will recognize and appreciate our effort to better our community and influence the world."

With industry booming and technology advancing, it is easy to forget the destructive effects we leave behind on our Earth, Friedman emphasized.

"In recent years, air pollution not only affects plants and animals but results in 2.4 million deaths in humans alone," he said.

Another concern on the rise is global warming. "Due to our actions, sources show that an estimated 40 percent of all organisms are endangered on Earth. If the situations of both air pollution and global warming continue, it is estimated that by 2050, one-third of our plants and animals will become extinct."

That is in the lifetimes of today's youths.

"Now is the time where people should truly start taking action in preventing such a future," Friedman said. "Through Plant Your Pennies, we strive to give people an easy way to donate so that everyone can aid in the fight to combat environmental depredation."

Accessible way to donate

Sometimes, people get too caught up in progress to see the pernicious trail they're leaving behind until the backlash hits with full force, Lin said.

"After that, it is no longer about preventing the problem," he said, "but about scrambling for a solution."

Although many people are beginning to notice the effects of careless habits, "it's important for people to recognize the problem and start taking steps to resolve them before it's too late," Lin continued.

"Through Plant Your Pennies," he said, "we give people an easily accessible way to donate while we spread our cause and do our part in helping Earth's transition to a healthier place to live, not only for the wildlife but for ourselves too."

For more information or to make a donation, send an e-mail to PlantYourPennies@gmail.com.