Chapter Seventeen

When Mom picks me up from camp today, she’s distracted. She ends up talking on her cell phone with people from work on the ride home on the Metra. I’m not able to tell her my latest developments from camp yet.

At home, we are greeted by another ringing phone. This time it’s the house phone. “Stella, it’s for you!” says Mom.

I pick up the phone expecting that it’s Dad. I sent him a present from Mexico.

“Hola, Stella. It’s me, Stanley.”

I gasp. This is the best surprise.

“I got your email. My dad said it sounded like you needed a real phone call. Are you still sad about the oceans?”

I’m far from sad now that I have some ideas from camp. But I’m lucky to have a friend who cares.

“I’m doing much better,” I say. “My camp counselors gave me some information on how to cut down on plastic.”

“Tell me so I can start telling everyone.”

I read out loud the four recommendations and tell him how he could sign the National Geographic pledge online.

“Easy peasy! Hey, what if you make your own pledge from the points? If everyone signs it, we’d save a lot of plastic from going into the oceans.”

I gasp. That is a good idea!

Stanley also thanks me for my postcard and letter. He says he was jealous that I had such a cool adventure in Mexico.

“How was the rest of Space Camp?” I ask.

“Awesome! I met a real-life astronaut. His name is Leland Melvin. He was in the NFL until he got injured and then became an astronaut with hard work.”

“Wow!” I reply.

Then he says, “Yeah, he’s my new hero, but I’ll be back next week, and I can tell you more about it then. I’ll be happy to help you save the oceans, too.”

“Deal,” I reply.

After hanging up, I check in with Mom. I’m positive she’ll be happy to sign my new pledge.

Mom is working on her laptop in her bedroom. She looks a little busy, but this is important.

“We need to stop using so much plastic,” I say from the doorway.

Mom looks deep in thought at her computer.

“Mmmmm.”

“Mom…,” I reply.

Mom closes her laptop a little. “Mi amor, give me one hour of work time, and I’ll be all ears. I promise.”

I spend the next hour going around the house, pulling out plastic bags and plastic bottles. I start with our kitchen pantry then move to the bathrooms and the trash bins. I pile all of them onto the kitchen counter. Like Ms. Susan said, sometimes you need to confront people with the hard facts.

Finally, Mom comes out of her bedroom.

“Stella…,” she says, sounding a little annoyed. I can tell because her voice gets much deeper. Her eyes are fixed on the plastic collection.

“¿Qué haces?”

“I’m trying to find all the plastic in the house to demonstrate how much we use.”

Mom touches her head in frustration.

“I see,” she says, holding her hands on her hips. “Well, it’s very messy in here.”

Oh no, I think. My demonstration is not Mom-approved. If there is one thing Mom doesn’t care for it’s messes. But I just wanted to show her why this is important. I have to fix this.

“I’ll clean it up, but see—we use a lot of plastic! So much.”

Mom doesn’t quite look convinced.

“It takes almost five hundred years for a plastic bottle to decompose,” I say, holding a bottle of water. Then I grab my journal.

“Look! I have this to read! And I wrote down this list from camp today. I’m going to turn it into a pledge that everyone can sign.”

She grabs my journal and takes one long deep breath.

“You read this on the couch and I’ll put everything away,” I say, trying to smile extra big.

Mom moves to the living room and begins to read while I put everything back in its proper place. When everything is organized, I join Mom on the couch. She looks more relaxed, but is still more serious than usual.

“I know this is important to you,” Mom replies. Her voice sounds controlled like she’s being deliberate with every word. “And I will sign the pledge and promise to cut back on plastic.”

I exhale a big sigh of relief. Not only is Mom no longer upset, she’s going to sign the pledge!

Then Mom adds, “But you also have to be okay that we might use some plastic in the future. Can you promise me that?”

“I promise,” I reply. I feel better knowing Mom is not really mad. Even better, we’re going to cut down on plastic as well.

“I also had a thought while you were cleaning up,” she says, pointing to my list.

“If we’re going to stop using plastic bags, we’re going to need more tote bags.”

I nod. That’s true.

“And we have all this leftover fabric in our craft box. Why don’t we try making our own tote bags?”

I squeal. That’s the best idea.

“Can we do that tonight after dinner?” I ask.

“Sí,” she replies.

Later that night, Mom and I use the sewing machine to make tote bags. We add leftover crazy fabric to make them as eccentric as possible.

“Who says being green has to be aburrido!” Mom says, holding a zigzag fabric.

As always, Mom is right. Going green isn’t boring.