Editor’s note: The following letter was authored by Trinity Chase and presented to the newspaper for publication by a group of sixth-graders at East Grand Middle School.

When tourists come into Grand County and they do any of the outdoor activities that we have to offer, they often leave their garbage lying around. Some people don’t care about the wildlife, but we want to change their minds and help save some of the amazing animals.

We want to keep Grand County clean, and safe for the animals that live here. If you leave any trash by your campsite, and you don’t clean it up, wild animals will get into it and eat it. They don’t know that the trash could kill them, so they eat it and die from clogged intestines.

At least 100,000 wild animals die every year because of plastic consumption, and about 500 billion plastic bags are produced every year. If someone throws away a plastic bag, and it ends up in the forest, it takes about 500 years to decompose if an animal doesn’t get into the bag, eat it, and then die because their intestine is clogged with a plastic bag.

Here are some ways to help reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in our forests, and how to reduce the number of animals that die from plastic consumption every year. You can start recycling more of your plastics, and use less plastic silverware, like plastic cups and straws. You could generally use less plastic materials. Instead, use glass cups and metal utensils. The last thing you can do to help the environment is when you go camping or do any outdoor activities and you have something that is made of plastic, make sure to pick it up or bring a reusable container instead.

Remember, pack in, pack out!

— Danielle Avila, Hali Robinson, Bairon Ramirez and Trinity Chase