How Loudoun Co. high school students are trying to clean up the environment for future generations
Ryan Nisay is one of the founders of a nonprofit organization dedicated to a cleaner, greener Loudoun County. And he’s still in high school.
Nisay, a senior dual-enrolled at Potomac Falls High School and the Academies of Loudoun, told WTOP that he and two friends, Christian Shire and Carter Lepuil, were inspired to create a group that would make a direct, student-led impact on the county they live in.
Nisay, 17, had been involved in the Keep Loudoun Beautiful organization, but wanted to rally more people his own age to have a direct role in their communities. That’s why he helped start the nonprofit Loudoun Nature Conservation Project in April.
He said he enjoyed volunteering with Keep Loudoun Beautiful, but, “I just felt like there wasn’t enough student representation in those larger scale conservation projects.”
Asked if there was a lot of enthusiasm in forming a nonprofit from his peers, Nisay said frankly, “On a personal level, my friends thought this was a ridiculous idea.”
But he wasn’t going to be deterred.
Once the organization started setting up cleanup efforts at local parks and it became clear that students could get their student service learning hours completed through volunteering, the idea didn’t seem so ridiculous, Nisay said.
“Teenagers are the most eager individuals to tackle these environmental issues. Tack on the idea of volunteer hours as well? People love volunteer hours,” he said, referring to the chance to fulfill a graduation requirement.
“One bottle is one bottle cleaned, one piece of trash is one piece of trash,” he said. “It adds up to the conservation of our earth.”
Once students got involved, Nisay said, it had an impact on the way they viewed the community around them.
Recently, he said he and a group of friends went to Sugarloaf Mountain in Montgomery County, Maryland, and when they spotted some trash on the outskirts of the park, they got to work cleaning up what they found.
“I definitely noticed in our schools, it’s a little cleaner, my friends are picking up trash.” Nisay said.
Nisay said efforts go beyond clearing trash from park land: “We’re looking into large-scale cleanup projects like meadow restoration.”
And he said there’s always an opportunity for students to help out in person and virtually.
Cleanups take place on a weekly or biweekly basis. One is scheduled for Nov. 17 and Nisay said it’s always a satisfying experience.
“It’s a tradition in our organization to take one big group photo of all the volunteers,” Nisay said. “It’s like, ‘yeah, we did that!'”
There are other student-led environmental nonprofits in the region. In September, WTOP interviewed the founder of Eco Moco, which has a stated goal of caring for the environment and developing leadership skills among young people.