Graphic Illustrator and birdhouse builder

Everybody needs to help

Henry is MAINTENANT’s tech savvy Junior Ambassador interested in all things planetary. He knows just how important it is to help the planet and he believes the future is bright and green, if everybody chips in.

This potential future engineer has some pretty great ideas for MAINTENANT’s DIVERSITY DECK® Funbook Endangered Animals. Together with Junior Ambassador Mïessa, Henry has created crosswords and graphic illustrations for the Funbook, something that suits Henry very well, as art is one of his favorite subjects in school. “I like MAINTENANT because it is good to help out,” says Henry. “It’s important to help the planet. It’s the best planet that we can live on.”

Listen to young people

Henry believes grownups should listen more to children and young people. “Children can influence the adults. Children can tell their parents to stop smoking, and they can tell other people to stop wasting. Most of them will listen, but sometimes they might not. They really should though, because smoking is bad for them and plastic waste is bad for the environment.” Henry is absolutely sure about one thing, “If they are not caring for the environment, they are not caring for themselves.”

One thing Henry is doing to influence his parents to save water is to remind them to turn the tap off when they are brushing their teeth. He turns to his mum and says, “Stop wasting water, like you said, I am using your own words against you, we have limited resources of water.”

He has a positive outlook and believes most adults are doing enough for the planet. “I’d say it’s half and half,” says Henry. “There’s a lot of good adults, definitely, in the world that are helping, but then there are those people…” Henry sees a bright future for the planet, if we help saving it. “We would have a healthy planet with lots of trees growing very green. It would be very easy for everyone, instead of having plastic everywhere.”

His positive outlook does not mean one can just sit on the sofa and do nothing. He says it is very important for children to get involved in helping the environment. Otherwise he thinks we are in for a bleak future. “If we don’t help, Earth will be a plastic pool and everything will be ruined. It can’t just be parents; everybody has to help. Otherwise today’s children’s children will have a bad childhood.”

Henry has a clear idea where all the plastic waste goes. “People just dump plastic in the sea and then it goes onto the islands in the sea. Then there’s plastic just dripping from the island, which is really disgusting.” Henry is also worried about the animals affected by the trash we throw away. “I once heard about some people who found a whale that went on shore, and it was full of plastic bags inside. So, everybody needs to help. Everybody.”

How to help animals from home

In the garden outside Henry’s house stands a white birdhouse on a stick, filled with bird seeds, and with the words “Birdhouse, all welcome” written on the wall. The engineers? Henry and his dad. “I like doing things with my dad, I love playing with him. The birdhouse was so fun to make and it looks really good.”

Apart from building houses for the birds, Henry likes computing and coding. He entered a giveaway of 5,000 micro bits that were supposed to go to the coding clubs, but because of the current COVID-19 situation, they were handed out to students instead. “And we won!” rejoices Henry. His engineer dad inspires Henry a lot. “He wants me to grow up and be an engineer, which includes coding. So, with coding I can learn to be one when I’m older.” He does have a few other career choices in mind. “I want to try and be an actor. But engineering would be cool, I would like to do robotics.”

Henry also likes his clubs. “I love clubs, my favorite one is jujutsu. I have been doing it for nearly two years and I have the blue belt now. I would probably have gotten the purple one by now, but I have missed a lot of classes because of COVID-19.”

Working with MAINTENANT has taught Henry a lot. “I didn’t really know that greenhouse gases could be good,” Henry says. “Too much greenhouse gas means it will be very hot and there will be lava everywhere. But if there were not enough greenhouse gases we’d be just like the moon. We need just the right amount for the Earth.”

Henry’s favourites