MONROE - Ashley Placek is a girl with something to say. And she knows how to say it.
When Ashley, 10, noticed lights on at the former Walmart building on 8th Street last week, it bothered the Monroe fourth-grader.
"I thought, 'why are they on?', since the building is now longer used," she said.
Placek, a budding environmental activist and writer, decided to get her message out by writing a "Letter to the Editor" to the Monroe Times. That letter appears on Page A4 of today's edition.
"I wanted to tell people about it so they can get involved," Placek said.
Her interest in protecting the environment goes beyond encouraging people to turn off the lights.
A few months ago, she did her own experiment making biodegrable paper. She mixed flour, water and paper and buried it underground to see how it would decompose. She checked her paper experiment recently to see its progress and reports it had began to mix with earth - but she could still see the paper.
And for a school project, Placek chose to write a biography on Ralph Nader because "he's someone who stands up for global warming" and works to stop the misuse of resources.
Not surprisingly, Ashley thinks she'll pursue an environmental field as a career.
"I think I'll be a global warming activist, like Al Gore," she said. She enjoys writing and hopes to someday author books about global warming to help educate people about its environmental consequences.
Her letter to the Times isn't the first she's written to call attention to the issue. She wrote a letter to President Bush when she was 9 but "he never responded."
But it's too important of an issue to ignore, Placek said.
"I got home from school one day and thought I should just start writing," she said, estimating it took about 30 minutes to compose the letter to the Times.
Ashley, the daughter of James and Laura Placek, wants people to think seriously about the environmental consequences of their actions.
"I think if people don't help, we might lose some of our species, like polar bears," she said. "If all of those species die, it could lead to us not surviving."
When Ashley, 10, noticed lights on at the former Walmart building on 8th Street last week, it bothered the Monroe fourth-grader.
"I thought, 'why are they on?', since the building is now longer used," she said.
Placek, a budding environmental activist and writer, decided to get her message out by writing a "Letter to the Editor" to the Monroe Times. That letter appears on Page A4 of today's edition.
"I wanted to tell people about it so they can get involved," Placek said.
Her interest in protecting the environment goes beyond encouraging people to turn off the lights.
A few months ago, she did her own experiment making biodegrable paper. She mixed flour, water and paper and buried it underground to see how it would decompose. She checked her paper experiment recently to see its progress and reports it had began to mix with earth - but she could still see the paper.
And for a school project, Placek chose to write a biography on Ralph Nader because "he's someone who stands up for global warming" and works to stop the misuse of resources.
Not surprisingly, Ashley thinks she'll pursue an environmental field as a career.
"I think I'll be a global warming activist, like Al Gore," she said. She enjoys writing and hopes to someday author books about global warming to help educate people about its environmental consequences.
Her letter to the Times isn't the first she's written to call attention to the issue. She wrote a letter to President Bush when she was 9 but "he never responded."
But it's too important of an issue to ignore, Placek said.
"I got home from school one day and thought I should just start writing," she said, estimating it took about 30 minutes to compose the letter to the Times.
Ashley, the daughter of James and Laura Placek, wants people to think seriously about the environmental consequences of their actions.
"I think if people don't help, we might lose some of our species, like polar bears," she said. "If all of those species die, it could lead to us not surviving."