9-year-old gets McDonalds to use recycled materials in packaging

http://www.care2.com/causes/trailblazers/blog/nine-year-old-wins-award-for-work-in-sustainable-packaging/

Rasenberger contacted and exchanged several emails with representatives of the Dogwood Alliance, an organization dedicated to protecting Southern forests, before they realized he was only nine years old!

Through the Alliance, Rasenberger learned that many of North Carolina's coastal forests are owned by large paper packaging mills, and are being destroyed to make paper for fast-food restaurants.

After hearing this distressing news, Rasenberger decided to personally convince the McDonald's CEO use less packaging and more recycled paper at the chain's fast-food restaurants.

Rasenberger hand-drew four postcards representing different forest habitats for his campaign. But he knew that wouldn't be enough.

Betting that many voices would speak louder than just his own, Rasenberger printed 2,250 postcards – enough for his entire school. He wrote a speech explaining his research and project, and over the course of three days, led a team of 24 students as they stormed all 51 classrooms to present the speech and get the postcards signed.

Very soon after sending the cards, Rasenberger heard back from McDonald's, which informed him that they would soon be switching their bags to 100 percent recycled paper.