Smoke-free fight

Jimmy Stroup

Although she’s still a student at Newport Harbor High School, Elle

Erpenbeck has done more than her fair share of taking care of the

environment, especially at the Newport Beach Pier.

A person who seems to touch and impress everyone she meets, Elle

has been working to make the beaches smoke-free.

“I think the protection of the environment is the worthiest of

causes,” the 17-year-old senior said.

Stephanie Barger, founder and executive director of Earth Resource

Foundation based in Costa Mesa, and Ananya Mullane, the foundation’s

youth program coordinator, had only nice things to say about Elle,

calling her their “little pride and joy” and “amazing.”

“She’s willing to do everything,” Mullane said, “whether it be on

the smoke-free beaches or on her own campus.”

Scott Morlan, a teacher at Newport Harbor High School, echoes

these sentiments. He recalled how Elle seemed fearless when speaking

in front of the Newport Beach City Council any time the issue of

smoke-free beaches came up, most recently at the end of April.

“When you have something to say, you have to go say it,” Elle

said.

Additionally, Elle is the president of the Earth Resource

Foundation Club at Newport Harbor High, a club Morlan said the senior

was a “driving force” in rebuilding.

Club goals include keeping the campus clean, encouraging recycling

on campus and participating in off-campus activities like beach

cleanups.

Elle maintains that cigarette butts on the beaches aren’t only bad

for the environment, but also unappealing.

“We get sick and tired of sitting down in the sand and there’ll be

a pile of cigarettes by your towel,” she said.

As if her volunteer cleanup and voice at council meetings weren’t

enough, Elle has begun a letter campaign to Newport Beach City

Council members to seek their support in getting Newport’s beaches

smoke-free -- though she did admit she hadn’t received a response.

“I sent them June 1,” she said. “Do you think they got them by

now?”

Ananya Mullane merely nodded her head when she found out Elle was

sending letters of her own volition.

“I think if we had not only more youth, but more like Elle, the

world would be a better place,” she said.