w, tIy N.
n<f;ni "jill;
I'm doomed.
~Aachoo! Don't worry, Bela . You r sister will
help you. Aachoo!" Mom whispers.
I clutch my bundle of colorful cloth pieces
and huddle against Mom's bed. She was
supposed to help me stitch them into shopping
bags. It's for my Girt Scout project. We're going
to give them ~way at the supermarket for
people to use instead of plastic bags. Did you
krlOw that billions of plastic b-lgs are thrown
away everyday? And because they don't rot
away like doth or paper, they clog up rivers,
drains, and landfills. Dur t roop leader sa~ tha t
for every cloth bag we ma ke, we can pre~ent
eighty plastic bags from being used. Not much,
but it's a start. And it's something I can do to
help. But I can't do it atone.
"Oidi's going to help me?"' ask Mom. She
nods we<lkly, her eyes watering. "Oh, no!"
Brinda is fifteen. She's always on the phone
with her girlfriends or surfing the internet. And
she's got this big history assignment she's
been working on for weeks. Knowing Oidi, the
llw,tr.lto<i tIy SuVon b .......'11
perfectionist, she '11 ne~er be done. Uke that
time she stayed up till two o'dock wOlking on
her Science Fair project-for a whole week! But
I don't ha~e a week. My bags are due on Earth
Day. That's in two d<lVS. This really sucks. Now
I'll be the only Girl S(Out w'lo won't gelan Eco­
Action badge for saving the planet.
~rm done!" Brinda sa~, exploding into
Mom's room. ~J'm done. done, done. And I aced
it, Mom. Vou should see tile stuff I put together
on the Great Depression. Vou'lIlove it!"
"Good job, honey,· Mom says, "but can you
help Bela now? Please? Aachoo!"
"I will: Brinda says, grabbing my hand and
pulling me outside. She slammed the door.
We get to .....ork. GRRRODDO! The se'Ning
machine makes a death r<lttle as Brinda prl!5ses
the pedal. We're stuck.
~Again? What is it this time?!!~ Brillda says.
It's hopell!5s. We've only succeeded in
snaggillg t he f<lbric illto an ugly bunch. And we
still have five bags to ma~e. "Are you sure you
tall do it?-l as~. "You want me to get Ml)m?­
 C­
o
Didi pullsoutthe manual. "Needle? ChecK.
Thread? Check. Bobbin?~ Brinda says. "Ah,
that's the problem."
I hold my breath as Didi tries again. This
time t he se....ing machine purrs through the
fabric. leaving a perfea seam! Relief washes
over me.
"That's great, Didi!" I say.
"Thank you," Brinda says. "Pass me the
handle. will you. How many do we have to
make? Five?"
-Yes. that's all th e cloth I could find," I said
to Didi. "They're reCjlded, you know. That's why
they're different colors and pa tterns."
"Cool! That's just like in the Great Oepression.
They reused the doth from sac~s that the flour
and sugar and chicken feed came in. They made
dresses and ell rtains and stuff out of it:
"Really?" I ask.
Brinda nods. ·Yeah, you know tha t American
__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _11
Gir l movie you saw? Kit Kittredge? Her dress was
made from a chicken feed sack too:
"But it didn't have any writing or Labels on it,W
I point out.
~Tha t's because they spent hours washing
the Label off. And now everyone loves that retro
look,w Didi said. She deft ly tie~ 3 small kno t in
the bag. ~Okay, done!"
I ta ck le her wi th a big hug. ~Thank you, Didi!"
"Anytime, Bela: Brinda says, flipping open
her cell phone.
Thanks to Didi, I had the best Earth Day ever
\\11th my Gir l Scout Troop, We gave awa~ sixty
reusable bags at Shaw's. That's 4,800 fewer
plastic bags in Landfills every year. As I attach
my Eco-Action badge on my uniform, I look in
the mirror. Didi's birt hday is coming up in a few
weeks. Ijust had t he best idea for her present!
And it'll be perfectly green, too.
You want to help me make it? Turn the page.
~ 100i I G9u>f Gr... I bIIHi.<om , ,