Eco Hero Kids

A group of young Malibu residents has taken on the challenges to the environment with rock and roll, and on Sunday rocked their message across with a concert at the Malibu Inn. Malibu's Eco Hero Kids also celebrated the release of their first eponymously titled CD.

Organized under the auspices of local singer-songwriter Julia Holland, the group has a serious message: wake up grownups, and save the planet we are inheriting.

Holland's brainchild was born of three personal passions: “I love singing, I'm crazy about songwriting and I'm concerned about the environment,” she said. “Since kids are inheriting our mess, I thought a cool pop group would influence other kids' awareness.”

Several years ago, Holland started writing some pop tunes designed to be sung “by kids, for kids,” with upbeat tempos, clever lyrics and a pointed theme of environmental responsibility. Significantly, the songs highlight ordinary measures that anyone, even youngsters, can take to help preserve the planet's ecosystem.

When Holland set out to start building her pop group, she only had to look as far as her students. A private singing coach, Holland tapped her list of lively roster of pupils, most of them local children attending local schools.

Several months of long Sunday afternoon rehearsals later, Holland has formed a nonprofit foundation, produced a bouncy CD sung by uniformly good voices, a witty and informative documentary video of the group's eco education and a great deal of hope to make a difference.

The group features Ava Deikeler, Caitlyn Evers, Dylan Grieco-Sissons, Ellery Smoller, Katarina Ulich, Leilani and TJ Jones and Timmy Thames.

“It was always about finding really good voices,” Holland said. “And I wanted beautiful children, yes, but also articulate kids. They've worked very hard.”

Their efforts seem to have paid off, as the Malibu Inn was packed to the rafters on Sunday. While attendees and supporters browsed T-shirts and CDs, others bid at a silent auction, or munched on cookies decorated as globes and dined at a buffet offered by the Green Truck organic catering company. Beverages included spring water bottled in plant-based, 100 percent compostable materials.

Local environmentalist Kelly Meyer was on hand to show support and is enthusiastic about the group's debut.

“I've heard all their songs and they are fantastic,” Meyer said. “They are right on point, their message is their music and look at them. They're adorable.”

After a funny introductory video, the eight youngsters, aged six to 12, took the stage to sing several of the songs featured on the CD. With smoothly blended harmonies and a Jonas Brothers stage presence, the Eco Hero Kids launched into diverse tunes like the doo-wop “Dear Mr. Grown Up,” a rhetorical “Where Do All The Plastic Bottles Go?” and the plaintive “A World Left for Me.”

And the younger performers were not there just for the cute factor. Seven-year-old TJ Jones has a powerful voice to go with his pop-locking dance moves. Paired with his sister, six-year-old Leilani in her bright blue petticoat and big red flower in her curls, the duo slayed.

Holland's 19-year-old daughter, Brooke, narrated a short video that shows the Eco Hero Kids visiting a landfill patrolled by falcons to control rodents and a worm farm that creates natural soil amendments.

“Forty percent of landfills have material like newspaper that can totally be recycled,” Brooke said. “I mean, all you have to do is put newspapers in the can that says ‘paper' for recycling. Hello? Kids in kindergarten have figured this out.”

Each of the Eco Hero Kids has taken on a particular environmental hazard to attack and have informed themselves of the means to recycle or minimize their impact.

When asked what was his pet peeve, TJ Jones declared, “Batteries! You can't just throw them away. They leak.” (Battery acid can leak into groundwater from landfills and present serious health hazards.)

The Eco Hero Kids' target audience was grooving to the message. Young Dylan Strickland, a student at Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School, has absorbed the enviro-responsibility ethic.

“I walk to school every day,” Strickland said. “I mean, it's only three blocks. But it still saves gas.”

Holland is seeking donations to fund tours and, hopefully, arrange television appearances for the group.

In their video, one of the young activists said, “We're just kids. What can we do?”

With their message, the Eco Hero Kids hope to empower and encourage families to become actively involved in protecting the global environment.

More information can be obtained and CDs purchased online at www.ecoherokids.com - By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times Published: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 11:54 AM PS

‘Eco Hero Kids’ Use the Power of Music to Spread the Word of Eco-Consciousness to Community Local singer, songwriter, actress and music teacher Julia Holland is using her talents to spread the word about one of her passions, the environment.
On a mission to educate the children of the world about the environment, Holland has formed the Eco Hero Kids Foundation to spread the word. The foundation’s spokespeople are the Eco Hero Kids, eight children ranging in age from six to 12, who have recorded a CD, “The Eco Hero Kids,” with songs written by Holland about the environment. “It’s children educating children about the environment and what they can do to improve it,” Holland says.
“All the songs I've heard geared toward children are folksongs sung by adults," she said “I think kids would enjoy singing and dancing to upbeat music, so I wrote all the songs and recorded
the CD. Only the children sing on it.”
The 11-song CD includes such titles as “Plastic Bottles,” “Wally the Worm” and “Ride a Bike,” all of which send strong messages about conserving and improving the environment.
Holland says the nonprofit foundation was formed to increase public awareness of environmental challenges and create educational materials.
“The Eco Hero Kids Foundation gives children the opportunity to conduct a public program of outreach to inspire kids everywhere to begin to recycle, renew energy through simple changes in individual and family behavior conserve land and resources through changes in behavior,” states the organization’s website, EcoHeroKids.com.
The Eco Hero Kids rehearse each Sunday afternoon and have already performed for the Wyland Foundation.
“He [Robert Wyland] was so impressed with the kids, he donated a painting that we will auction off at our fundraiser,” Holland said.
Their next performance will be on Sunday, Jan. 10, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Malibu Beach Inn. A fundraiser for the Eco Kids Foundation, it will also celebrate the launch of the CD, as well as have food and beverages, a performance by the Eco Hero
Kids and a silent auction.
Holland said she feels it is important for the children to have an understanding of
environmental issues, so she has also taken the Eco Hero Kids on field trips—to the
Simi Valley Landfill, as well as to the University of California Santa Barbara to see its recycling program where Holland’s daughter Brooke, a sophomore at the school, is the program’s coordinator.
“Plastic never disintegrates, it just gets smaller and smaller, so it’s really destroying our planet,” Holland said. Members of the singing group say they have become aware of their responsibilities toward the environment. “I’ve learned about what I can do,” said Ellery Smoller, age 12. “There are so many different ways to help: by turning off the lights, using reusable water bottles, turning off the water while you brush your teeth and unplugging computer and phone chargers. If everybody does those things, it really helps. I’ve learned about how we’re hurting our planet.”
Holland said that an integral part of the message is to explain to children why they should do things. “Why turn off the lights? Because there are these huge plants that have to generate energy and they’re throwing tons of stuff into the air,” she said.
In this vein, each child in the group is taking on an issue: carbon dioxide emissions,
clean water, reusable water bottles and electricity. They will not only explain how to correct the situation, but why one should be conscious about it.
“We want to be able to get the word out, start chapters in other cities and have kids start taking control of the environment,” said Holland. To this end, she has written 10 episodes of a show that is now in production. “It’s based on the songs and will either be
on television or the web,” she said. Holland says she’s also written a play that she hopes will be performed at schools.
Holland, a 10-year local resident, has been active with children for years.
She taught music at Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School for six years and at Webster Elementary for two years. She teaches piano and singing privately. She is founder of the Once Upon a Time Children’s Theater in Malibu, the next production of
which will be “Aladdin.” She is also founder and director of the local singing group the ’Bu Notes, as well as a member of the Malibu Stage Repertory.
Holland says she would like to see the Eco Kid movement eventually spreading internationally, with chapters in cities across the globe, especially with the help of the Internet, with children becoming Eco Hero Kids.
“Our planet is in peril,” she said.“I’m OK, but Ellery [Smoller] is only 12, It’s really going to impact her kids. I think my generation really dropped the ball.”
For more information on the Eco Hero Kids Foundation and the Eco Hero
Kids, visit EcoHero-Kids.com.
BY ROBBY MAZZA - Malibu Surfside News - December 31, 2009