Emma and Leo were walking near a river they loved. But today, the river was dirty and full of trash. There were no fish, and the water smelled bad.

“This is so sad,” Emma said.

Leo pointed ahead. “Look!”

   They saw something strange. 

One side was dark and polluted, 

but the other side was green, clean, 

and full of life.

“How can this be?” Emma asked.

                                  Nagihan ERCELEP TEZEL/24 Şubat Secondary School  

  A soft voice said, “These are two possible futures.”

“The dark side will happen if people harm nature,” the voice continued. “The green side will happen 

if people protect it.”

Leo smiled. “So we can change it?”

“Yes,” said the voice.

Emma found a small plant. “Let’s start here.”

Leo nodded. “But what should we do next?”

                                 Nagihan ERCELEP TEZEL/24 Şubat Secondary School                   

Emma looked around and thought for a moment.
“We can clean the river,” she said. 

“And we can tell others to help too.”

The next day, Emma and Leo came back with gloves and bags. They started picking up trash near the river. At first, it was hard work.

Soon, some children from their school saw them.
“What are you doing?” they asked.

“We are helping nature,” Leo said. “Do you want to join us?”

The children smiled and said, “Yes!”

Nikolina, OOU "Grigor Prlicev"-Ohrid 

Day by day, more people came. They cleaned the river, planted trees, and took care of the small plants.

After some time, something amazing happened.
The water became clearer. Birds came back. Fish started to swim again.

Emma smiled. “Look, Leo! The green future is starting!”

Leo nodded. “Yes… and it started with us.”

Nikolina, OOU "Grigor Prlicev"-Ohrid 

Gülcan DALBOY - Tatlıcak Secondary School

Gülcan Dalboy 

Tatlıcak Secondary School

Ayşe LEVENT KOLUKISA/Şehit Oğuzhan Küçük İmam Hatip Secondary School

Emma and Leo looked at each other in silence. The factory stood tall and gray, its pipes stretching like long metal arms toward the river. From one of them, a steady stream of dark water poured into the once-clean flow.

Emma frowned. 

“This doesn’t look right at all.”

Leo stepped a little closer but kept his distance.

 “Do you think they know what they’re doing?”

Emma crossed her arms. 

“They have to know. You can’t just pour something like that into a river and not realize it’s harmful.”

                                                                       Türkan İnan-Şehit Mehmet Kocabay 

                                                                            İmam Hatip Secondary School

The soft voice returned, quieter this time, almost like the wind moving through the trees.

 “Sometimes people know… and sometimes they choose not to see.”

Leo clenched his fists.

 “That’s not fair. We worked so hard to clean this place.”

Emma took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. 

“Getting angry won’t fix it. We need to understand what’s happening first.”

They carefully walked along the edge of the river, staying hidden behind bushes and rocks.

Türkan İnan-Şehit Mehmet Kocabay 

     İmam Hatip Secondary School

Khatuna Melikidze-LEPL Zestaponi Public School No3, Georgia

Khatuna Melikidze-LEPL Zestaponi Public School No3, Georgia

Emma and Leo were walking near a river they loved. But today, the river was dirty and full of trash. There were no fish, and the water smelled bad.

“This is so sad,” Emma said.

Leo pointed ahead. “Look!”

   They saw something strange. 

One side was dark and polluted, 

but the other side was green, clean, 

and full of life.

“How can this be?” Emma asked.

 A soft voice said, “These are two possible futures.”

Gülhan YALÇIN/Gazi Secondary School/Türkiye

“The dark side will happen if people harm nature,” the voice continued. “The green side will happen 

if people protect it.”

Leo smiled. “So we can change it?”

“Yes,” said the voice.

Emma found a small plant. “Let’s start here.”

Leo nodded. “But what should we do next?”

                 Emma looked around and thought for a moment.

“We can clean the river,” she said. 

“And we can tell others to help too.”

Gülhan Yalçın/Gazi Secondary School/Türkiye

The next day Emma and Leo went back to the river and suddenly started coughing really badly. They tried to figure out what was the cause of this. When they looked in the sky, they saw lots of black smoke. They followed the smoke and saw a highway with lots of cars and traffic.

Students of Primary School Velika Dolina, Slovenia, Teacher Tadeja Božič