Chapter 15

Chapter 15 REDUCE. REUSE. REJOICE! As she swam once more in the ocean, Harper allowed a sense of victory to wash over her. They had just faced their greatest Minecraft challenge yet. At first, it had seemed like too big a problem to solve. But they'd solved it. By working together. By making sure nobody had to face the challenge alone. It was a lesson she'd try hard to remember. The next time she felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, she would talk to her friends first.

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A sea turtle was swimming nearby. Harper remembered those baby sea turtles they'd saved on the beach so many days ago. Time moved quickly here. Was this one of those babies, all grown up? Protecting those hatchlings had been such a small action. But small actions had big consequences. And enough small actions might add up to something truly great. Maybe even saving-the-planet great. Harper breathed a little easier. And this time, it had nothing to do with potions or a magical undersea conduit. Ms. Minerva kicked open the door and entered the classroom. Doc was right behind her. Their arms were full of old lunch trays. "Lunch is served!" called Doc. "Well, lunch trays, anyway…" Harper hurried over to hold the door open for

them. "Those are perfect," she said. "Are you sure we can use them, Ms. Minerva?" "I'm absolutely thrilled about it," the teacher answered. She and Doc dropped the trays onto the table where Morgan, Ash, Jodi, and Po sat waiting. "I told you, I don't want these things to end up in a landfill." "And we can't recycle them," said Doc. "So giving them a new life is the next best thing."

"A new life as jewelry," Harper said. She nodded. "We'd better get started." "Could you use an extra set of hands?" asked Ms. Minerva. "Always," said Jodi. "Pull up a seat!" The seven of them worked all through the afternoon. At first, they followed Jodi's lead. As the most experienced artist in the group, she had a lot of ideas for how to cut, reshape, and recolor the plastic trays into tiny, coral-inspired works of art. But as the afternoon went on, they all grew more confident. They began to experiment with new shapes and techniques. Soon they had a small treasure trove of creations. Those creations showed nearly as much variety and color as an actual coral reef. "I already got the whole basketball team to agree to wear these tomorrow," Po said. "We know how good they are at starting a trend."

"Perfect," said Ash. "The more students who want to wear fake coral, the fewer who will buy the real thing." "And that's good news for the environment," Harper said. She was the happiest she had been in days. "Speaking of good news, I just got some," said Doc. She looked up from her smartphone. "I heard back from the coral research center. They've agreed to transport our lab-grown coral to a reef off the coast of Florida."