GOOD BUSINESS—The Eco Girls are Montana Golin, Sabrina Cherfane, Alexandra Kukoff, Hayley Martin, Selena Cherfane and Priya Paramanandam. For information, visit www.ecogirls.org. SYLVIE BELMOND/Acorn Newspapers Can making environmentally conscious changes actually help a business’ bottom line?

That’s the question a group of six local high school and middle school students are trying to answer for the Idea to Impact Challenge, a contest sponsored by the Ventura County Office of Education and Cal State Channel Islands.

Calling themselves the Eco Girls, the group is investigating how businesses can increase their profits by implementing green practices and at the same time advocating for smarter use of the planet’s limited resources.

“We want to teach people what sustainability is and how to be sustainable,” said Eco Girl Hayley Martin, 13, a student at La Reina High School.

Idea to Impact, a Ventura County Science Fair satellite competition, asks students in sixth through 12th grades to create solutions to energy and environmental issues.

Teams are asked to design a lesson plan for younger students, perform a community service project and summarize the impact of their work through a digital presentation and portfolio.

The Eco Girls started out as a book club at the Thousand Oaks Teen Center before they decided to participate in the challenge and write a book about their findings afterward.

Alexandra Kukoff, a student at Medea Creek Middle School in Oak Park, came up with the idea to form the Eco Girls.

The eighth-grader lived in New Jersey for a year with her family and missed California’s mountains and beaches. When she returned to her hometown, she became interested in preserving the environment for future generations.

On Jan. 20, the group visited a fourth-grade classroom at Ladera Elementary to teach them about taking care of the environment. Sustainable practices include using less electricity, which cuts greenhouse gas emissions and improves air quality.

For the service portion of their project, team members set up a booth at Oak Park High School’s Sustainability Showcase and answered questions about sustainable clothing made from eco-friendly materials. They also collected old clothing that will be used to create new apparel.

“Pollutants from clothing dyes are dumped into rivers in China,” Alexandra said about manufacturing practices that don’t meet safe environmental standards.

“People may think the environment isn’t important right now, that it’s not as bad (in our neighborhood) as in other places,” Alexandra said. “But (without change) it’s eventually going to be bad for everyone. It’s a serious, pressing issue.”

In addition to reaching out to other students, the group is compiling a list of green careers and visiting local businesses that are already environmentally conscious.

During a recent trip to Gills Onions in Oxnard, the girls learned how the company converts all of their onion waste—up to 300,000 pounds daily—into renewable energy and cattle feed.

The system not only saves the company money and reduces pollution, but “(clients) pay more attention” to and support the green business, said Priya Paramanandam, 13, a Redwood Middle School student.

The Eco Girls’ project has taught Montana Golin, 14, that businesses play an important role in conserving the Earth.

“ I always thought it was consumers who controlled how things work. But if businesses are doing something good (for the environment), they create more (green) careers for us. They lead the way,” said the Westlake High School student.

Sabrina Cherfane, 13, said the Eco Girls’ work can benefit everyone.

“We’re trying to build businesses up and inform students who might own a business in the future,” said Sabrina, who attends Los Cerritos Middle School.

“When people our age have businesses, (we hope) resources won’t run out,” Priya added.

Sabrina’s 12-year-old sister, Selena, said they plan to show others that sustainable practices are simple.

“You can be sustainable in many ways and it doesn’t cost you anything,” she said. Examples include recycling and switching to solar-powered energy.

The submission deadline for the Idea to Impact Challenge is March 5. An awards ceremony will be held March 31.

For more information about the challenge, visit www.vcoe.org.