Local Mom Propels Eco-Friendly Girl Sprouts

For nearly 100 years, the Girl Scouts have been the pre-eminent social and volunteer organization for young girls all over America and abroad.

But if the sash-sporting sellers of Thin Mints and Do-si-dos look in their rearview mirror, they might see some eco-oriented competition right here in Mill Valley. For the past three years, Mill Valley mom Annika Miller has been gaining momentum for the Girl Sprouts, a Girls Scouts alternative that looks a lot like the original but with an environmental focus.

“Our motto is ‘building character through sustainable education’ [with] good green fun [centered on] local and environmental issues,” Miller says.

There are plenty of similarities between Girl Sprouts and Girl Scouts beyond the slightly tweaked moniker.

Instead of selling those delicious Girl Scout cookies to raise money for the organization, Girl Sprouts raise money for local charities by selling home-baked organic cookies. And just like the Girl Scouts, the Girl Sprouts seek to instill an interest in volunteerism and social awareness in their members. They recently visited organic body-care manufacturer EO (Essential Oils) in Corte Madera to learn about the company's eco-friendly products.

The Girls Sprouts currently has three groups of girls – third graders, fourth graders and seventh graders – with a new group of second graders to be added in the fall. The program encourages girls to explore, engage with, and learn from their local community about the wide spectrum of readily available, sustainable and environmental options in their lives.

But there are plenty of differences between the two as well, starting with those recognizable uniforms.

“No uniforms,” says Miller. “And no badges. It’s nothing against the Girl Scouts.”

The idea is to make local current events fun by engaging the girls in field trips that are thoughtful, engaging and entertaining, something that a conventional classroom perhaps would not be able to easily accomplish.

Miller started the group when her two daughters got to Girl Scouts age and she wanted expand on its platform.

“As a girl, you lose your confidence sometime around your teens and … I didn’t want these girls to define themselves through peer pressure,” she says. “So I started a group when [the girls] were younger… I want to [show them] that you can make a difference and you don’t have to think about what your peers think about you, or who’s on Facebook.”

The girls don’t simply focus on learning about local issues and events. Miller developed a 10-month program in which the girls actually participate in events themselves. They picked apples last September and pressed them with an old-fashioned cider press. In October, which is National GMO (genetically modified organism) Month, they met a GMO specialist and “learned what genetically GMOs are, what they do to our food and about how we have choices as consumers,” Miller said.

The groups have also visited community gardens, the , several local green businesses and the Marin Humane Society, among others.

“These kids are so busy,” she says.

This year’s theme is “how to live in a world without fossil fuels,” Miller says. “We’re learning about wilderness survival, about how to preserve and can your own jellies, and other things that might be potentially very useful in their lives. I get pretty worried about things in the world, and instead of getting needlessly neurotic I sort of channel my anxiety into something productive.”

In March, the Girl Sprouts marched over EO to get an exclusive tour of the factory, a workshop on how to make their own bath salts, goodie bags of EO products, and an introduction to EO’s co-founder/owner Susan Griffin-Black.

“In a perfect world, I would love for these (girls) to know that with sugar and everyday ingredients that we use, that they can make their own [body care products] without spending a whole lot of money or using plastic,” Miller says. “And I wanted them to meet a local businesswoman who is totally inspiring and green and local and organic.”

Miller has no current plans to expand Girls Sprouts beyond the four groups currently set for the 2011-2012 school year, she says it’s not for a lack of interest. Some of her friends around the U.S. have expressed interest in launching their own local chapters of the Girl Sprouts and are looking for direction. She hopes to launch a website to provide details on how to launch local chapters.

Despite the emphasis on social awareness, Miller is quick to note that the Girl Sprouts have taken a cue from the Girl Scouts and continue to emphasize delicious treats. Each year they get together and make crafts out of recycler materials and bake organic cookies.

“And then we go down to the square [in downtown Mill Valley] to sell them.,” she says. “But then we make like $400, and then [the kids] have to research and pick a local charity to donate the money to. Just to let the kids know that we are in a bubble here, and we are really lucky here, but there are a lot of kids and people next door to us that don’t have what we have.”