Girls out to nix all nurdles

After four weeks studying ecology, Cristina Waterman became an

opponent of nurdles.

Nurdles, the 11-year-old Waterman explained, are bits of plastic

that sea animals and birds can mistake for food.

“Birds eat plastic, and it chokes them,” Cristina said. “Dolphins

and sea lions are really cute, and they do not deserve to be killed

by us. Same with birds.”

Cristina was one of 60 girls who participated in four weeks of

science study with Girls Inc. of Orange County’s Eureka Program. Lucy

Santana, executive director of Girls Inc. of Orange County, said

girls in the Eureka Program learn about a different aspect of science

each year. This was the first time her group worked with the Costa

Mesa-based Earth Resource Foundation.

Members of the foundation wanted to teach the girls the value of

environmental stewardship and to impart the sense that their actions

have consequences, youth program coordinator Candice Dickens-Russell

said.

Dickens-Russell said the motto of the lessons is: “I am the

problem, and I am the solution.”

The girls concentrated their studies on three of

environmentalists’ traditional targets -- litter, Styrofoam and

plastics. The girls split into three groups to prepare presentations

on each topic.

They delivered their presentations Thursday at Orange Coast

College. Each included a slide show, featuring images of wildlife

harmed by litter. Those images included a seal with a plastic

six-pack ring around its snout and a turtle that tried to eat a

plastic bag.

In another presentation, the girls showed a video of their efforts

to try to persuade grocery shoppers to use paper bags instead of

plastic ones. Many shoppers walked right past the girls, but Santana

said the exercise went better than the moments shown on tape.

The girls also secured a pledge from Santana to declare Girls Inc.

a Styrofoam-free zone.

One of the three groups chose to focus on Styrofoam since they

found so much of the material at a beach cleanup, 12-year-old Nicole

Steinberg said.

“We had to yell out ‘Add more Styrofoam’ whenever we found 10

pieces. That’s all we said all day,” Nicole said.

Girls Inc.’s Eureka Program is open to girls 11 to 14, Santana said. The program is designed for girls who may one day study math,

science or technology at the college level.

“It’s so girls feel they belong on a college campus and those

subjects aren’t scary,” Santana said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards@latimes.com.