Mia and Leo huddled over the books they were reading. Their dog, Spots, snored gently on the ground. To anyone who didn’t know them, they looked like normal kids. But anyone who did know them knew that they were totally, definitely, not normal. Mia looked up from her book as her watch blinked and beeped.

“Leo! A turtle in Thailand ate a plastic bag!” she said urgently. Leo jerked his head up from his own book.

“Oh no! Spots, wake up!” The dog raised his spotted head and yawned, but when he saw his owner’s serious looks, he jumped up and pawed at his watch until it glowed and a cape shot out of it and onto his back. Mia and Leo both pressed their watches and were transformed into their superhero selves.

“Recycle Boy!” Leo shouted, thrusting out his fist.

“Reuse Girl!” Mia cried, bumping her fist against Leo’s.

“Arf arf arf!” Spots barked, which meant, “Reduce Dog!” and put his paw in. The Green Team quickly rushed to the vet office where the poor turtle was taken. “Green Team! He seems to be alright, but the effects could be fatal!” a very stressed vet cried. Mia examined the bit of plastic that the turtle had swallowed. “That’s the work of Dr. Plastic by the look of it,” she snarled. Leo nodded. “He has no respect for the environment at all! He doesn’t recycle,”

“He doesn’t know that instead of using plastic bags, he can reuse the same cloth bag over and over again,” Mia added. “Woof!” Spots barked angrily, which of course meant, “And he doesn’t reduce the amount of plastic in his home! He increases it!”

“My my,” the vet said, shaking her head. “He sounds like an evil person!”

“He is,” Mia agreed.

“Maybe he doesn’t know any better,” Leo suggested, Spots nodded.

“Anyway, we have to talk some sense into him,” Mia decided. “We need to tell him that plastic is harmful and is hurting our beautiful planet!”

“And that it’s much better to use reusable bags and straws, then to waste them on one meal,” Leo said.

“Do you know where he is?” the worried vet questioned. Mia nodded.

“At the Plastic Palace. It’s made entirely out of plastic, and smells like burning rubber.”

Dr. Plastic sipped the last of his smoothie, and took out the straw. He put the straw into the garbage.

“Oh, looks like The Green Team is coming,” he said to himself as he saw the Green Mobile approaching on the horizon. It pulled to a stop in front of the Plastic Palace, and Mia, Leo, and Spots stepped out of it and knocked on Dr. Plastic’s plasticy door. Dr. Plastic sighed and swung open the door.

“What do you want?” he sighed.

“We want to tell you that you should stop using so much plastic,” Mia said boldly.

“It’s hurting the environment,” Leo said. “Why do you do it?” Dr. Plastic sighed.

“I know. But it doesn’t seem possible that our perfect planet will be destroyed by us.” Dr. Plastic said.

“Have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?” Mia asked. Dr. Plastic shook his head. “Well,” Mia began. “All of the plastic that ends up in the ocean is pushed to one spot because of the currents. And that just happens to be a lot. It like a garden that keeps growing because we keep planting stuff in it. But the problem is, this ‘garden’ is hard to get rid of. Many scientists work to solve this problem.” Mia explained. Dr. Plastic nodded his head slowly.

“I get it. But I don’t want to litter anymore, now that I know plastic is very harmful. Can I help you?” Leo grinned.

“Of course.”

“Woof! Arf!” Spots barked, which meant, “We can reduce the plastic in your home!”

“And we can reuse the straws and clean them instead of putting them in the garbage!” Mia exclaimed.

“Thank you!” Dr. Plastic said. “I will now be the Plastic Picker-upper, and work to help solve this problem!”

“Green Team, we have successfully completed this mission! Now, let’s go home!” Mia said, and the team took off in the Green Mobile.

Dr. Plastic changed his house from the crumbling plastic to wood, and uses cloth bags and reusable straws. He helps The Green Team work to reduce plastic in community farms, recycle anything that doesn’t belong in the garbage, and reuses items such as bottles and jars.

Mia, Leo, and Spots are continuing their business and helping all the animals in need.

The authors of this story, Casey Crook, Ava Wilhite, nd Taryn Wilhite, are students at Fall City Elementary School.