#57: Dawn Saves the Planet
“I’m Dawn Schafer. I’m thirteen years old and have been known to be pretty outspoken when it comes to environmental issues or organic food.” - page 1
Dawn’s science assignment is to create a project that can save the planet. This is extremely up Dawn’s alley, and I’m all for it if she can save the planet without being insufferable! Big ask, I know.
Dawn and Stacey have a pretty good idea for their project - they’re going to teach an after-school ecology class to their babysitting charges, and teach them ways to recycle and be more environmentally friendly. They’ll hold six weeks of themed one-hour classes, culminating in a Green Fair, which will consist of booths designed by the kids and be a fundraiser for an environmental organization. They have 13 kids sign up, and their first class goes smoothly!
Dawn gets really into it and goes beyond the scope of the project, dreaming of turning Stoneybrook Middle School into a recycling center (which would be cool) but also lecturing the members of the BSC about every tiny infraction. Some of her suggestions are great (write on both sides of the paper, Mary Anne; recycle your Coke cans, Claudia) and others are a little rougher (she goes off on Claudia because the chocolate drops she bought were individually wrapped). Dawn’s intensity has trickled down to the students, too; Nicky and Vanessa Pike have gotten their siblings (except Mallory) to start a Green Patrol that “arrests” anybody who makes a mistake around the house (using plastic or non-recycled paper, leaving a light on, etc.). The intentions are good but the methods leave something to be desired.
Dawn makes a presentation to the vice principal about her idea for a recycling center at SMS and he says he’ll greenlight it if she can show that SMS students support the project and will help her maintain it. So Dawn starts an aggressive campaign… but it’s a little too aggressive. She’s alienating people, which means there are fewer and fewer people getting excited about helping her - even the BSC.
EVEN THOUGH SHE IS RIGHT ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT AND WHAT PEOPLE ARE DOING WRONG (I want to make that clear, especially because I am breaking protocol to acknowledge that Dawn is right), the way she’s going about it is not helping her cause. It’s unfortunate that “saving the planet” is not enough for people, but as we’ve all seen in our lives and in the history of humanity, it’s not enough for people. She’s become so overbearing and critical that Stacey is considering quitting the project and tells Claudia that her friendship with Dawn might be permanently ruined. Welcome to the club, Stacey.
“You can’t make people care. That’s up to them.” - Mary Anne, page 95
SMS votes overwhelmingly in favor of the recycling center idea, but they elect Mrs. Gonzalez the science teacher as the project leader, not Dawn. Dawn overhears Cokie and Grace talking about how everyone thinks she’s obnoxious and that they like the idea but they can’t deal with Dawn and finally realizes that everyone wants to save the planet, but they’d like to recycle her.
The newspaper writes up an article about the center and Dawn is mentioned by not photographed. She’s given the task of doing the recycling center newsletter, which is important but doesn’t require her to play well with others. And at the ribbon-cutting opening-day ceremony, the vice principal gives all the credit to Mrs. Gonzalez and Dawn isn’t even mentioned or recognized at all. She feels like a real compost heap.
And yet… she doesn’t learn her lesson until the BSC finally lets loose on her for the aggressive way she’s been ordering them around and making plans for them to help without asking them if they can help or want to help. Claudia even calls Dawn an eco-maniac, and I appreciate her wordplay (although who even knows how she’d try to spell it?!). Chastised Dawn makes things right, and of course the Green Fair goes off without a hitch. Dawn and Stacey decide that change needs to start at home, so they donate their raised funds to the Stoneybrook Middle School Recycling Center. Dawn and Stacey get As on their reports, and Mrs. Gonzalez invites Dawn to be the co-chair of the recycling program.
