It is 2024 now. On weekends, you’ll find Mateo Lange separating bottles and cans into different types. Mateo, 15, leads a community recycling program in Indian River, Michigan, his hometown.
现在是2024年。在周末，你会发现马特奥·兰格将瓶子和罐头分成不同的类型。15岁的马特奥在他的家乡密歇根州的印度河领导着一个社区回收项目。
Mateo launched the program in 2020. He was 11 and in sixth grade. He was playing baseball with the Northern Michigan Cyclones. The team needed money to travel to tournaments (锦标赛). Mateo came up with a plan. “There were cans and bottles always thrown around the road,” he tells TIME for Kids. In Michigan, these can be collected. Then they can be exchanged for money. Mateo started a bottle and can drive. His dad helped. They raised $7,500. “We built up so much money,” Mateo says. “So I said, ‘Why don’t we keep this going?’”
马特奥于2020年启动了该项目。他那时11岁，上六年级。他在北密歇根旋风队打棒球。球队需要钱去参加比赛。马特奥想出了一个计划。他告诉《儿童时代》：“路上总是有人扔易拉罐和瓶子”。在密歇根州，这些可以被收集。然后它们可以兑换成钱。马特奥从一个瓶子开始并启动（项目）。他爸爸帮忙了。他们筹集了7500美元。马特奥说：“我们筹集了这么多钱，所以我说，‘我们为什么不继续这样下去？’”
Since then, Mateo’s recycling effort has raised $350,000. And it has helped at least 50 youth groups. It has collected more than 2 million bottles and cans. It has kept them from littering Michigan’s roadsides. It has kept them out of lakes and rivers.
从那时起，马特奥的回收工作已经筹集了35万美元。它还帮助了至少50个青年团体。它已经收集了200多万个瓶子和罐头。它防止了它们在密歇根州的路边被乱扔。它使他们远离湖泊和河流。
In 2023, Mateo was awarded a Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. It honors kids and teens who help others and protect Planet Earth. “It feels great,” Mateo says, when asked about all he’s achieved. “I am happy knowing that all these teams and clubs and kids around the community are benefitting (受益).”
2023，马特奥被授予Gloria Barron青年英雄奖。它表彰帮助他人和保护地球的儿童和青少年。当被问及他所取得的成就时，马特奥说: “感觉很棒。我很高兴知道所有这些团队和俱乐部以及社区周围的孩子都从中受益。”
He believes everyone can—and should—be of service. “Just do a little bit to help make the world a little bit of a better place,” he says. “Be creative,” he adds. “Have an idea and build on it.”
他相信每个人都可以——也应该——为社会服务。他说：“只要做一点点，帮助世界变得更美好。”他补充道：“要有创造力，有一个想法，并以此为基础。”
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