Captain Planet and the ECO Preservation Project

Everyone who knows me has seen me in the Everglades doing research, giving swamp walks or returning home from an expedition in my Florida State Park Volunteer clothes. Well, on several occasions while out in nature, I had the opportunity to run into Garrett Stuart, more commonly known as Captain Planet, the founder of the Eco Preservation project. He is impressive not only in his presence, being a tall man of over six feet and adorned with Native American necklaces, but also with his mission to preserve the environment. Stuart is a strong conservationist who believes youth are the key to the Earth’s survival. In February, he was a speaker at The Climate Change Conference at the University of Miami.

As a child, he was always drawn to the outdoors. Stuart loves the nature Florida has to offer. “I was attracted to the Everglades as a teenager in the Midwest. I would read stories about the Everglades about people looking for orchids, seeing alligators and maybe being clubbed over the head.” This world fascinated Stuart as he read books and thought that the worst thing that could happen to him in nature in Kansas was getting bitten by a rabid raccoon. The River of Grass was a whole different world that he would not get to experience until he was much older.

He started an education focused on teaching. He dropped out for a semester so he could explore what he wanted to do. He volunteered at a youth crisis center which was a homeless shelter for boys. The early roots of Captain Planet’s Eco Preservation project for kids started here. Stuart saw how you could take a damaged child and teach them how to fish, hike or even play hide and seek in the woods, and they would be impacted by the healing benefits of being in nature. 

One day Stuart took the boys to Big Hill State Part to try new skateboards he had bought them. That day changed his life. At the bottom of one hill, he met a man he thought was a park ranger drilling holes. Stuart asked what he was doing, and the man told him that he was a biologist studying trees and responsible for protecting the forest and animals. He then told Stuart how he could become a protector of nature, too.

Garrett applied for a Fisheries Program at Pittsburg State University in Kansas; he had an epiphany about how he wanted to dedicate his life. His biology career started with stints at the Kansas Division of Wildlife and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. 

A dark place in Stuart’s life brought him closer to the Everglades and South Florida. Growing up, he experienced genetic back disease and, like many, was prescribed addictive painkillers by a doctor when he was only a sophomore in high school. He quit taking the pills and would get winter seasonal depression when in the Midwest.

A friend who lived in the Keys told Stuart to come down to Florida for a better mindset. His buddy took him on a reef snorkeling trip, and it changed everything. “I felt like a bird flying over the ocean,” Stuart said. “I became all about the ocean and rewrote the education of my heart.” Stuart’s recovery from addiction started. 

When in the Keys, Stuart helped plant corals and educate tourists about the reef. He was asked to speak at resorts. He taught about pollution and finding solutions. He insists that it is important to not just teach about ecological issues but inspire people to do something about them.

About a month after Hurricane Irma, he started a Captain Planet Facebook page. He wanted everyone to become the Captain Planet of their neighborhood. Many people had already heard of the 1990s animated television series “Captain Planet and the Planeteers” which dealt with ecological disasters and encouraged environmentally responsible behavior. Followers on his Facebook page and asked questions about things like blue-green algae. He taught many that Florida does not have an algae problem but a nutrient pollution problem. His educational videos went viral. Teachers contacted him to come to their classrooms and talk to the students. Today he travels all over the state to visit public schools. 

Stuart likes working with the next generation, or as he calls them, “the kiddos,” and is a firm believer in the phrase, “We do not inherit the earth from our parents but borrow it from our children.” He has seen this quote attributed to many different chiefs of Native American tribes but thinks that no one really knows who the actual person was that created it as it was lost in history.

“I fear that today’s children are disconnected and are dealing with more physical and mental health issues due to current diets and not being in nature,” he says. He likes to get kids outside in the natural world. For instance, he speaks to classrooms about pollution from water releases from Lake Okeechobee and the impacts of red tide. He lets them help with the installation of artificial saltwater reefs.

The Eco Preservation project educates kids. What is the point of restoring the environment without teaching them when, why, and how? Stuart does not charge a penny for these school classes. “Higher education shouldn’t just be for kids that can afford it,” he says. Some educational programs listed on their website are charged for such as bushcraft/survival class, environmental/agricultural consulting, some nature walks and visits to parties and events. Specific information can be found on the ecopreservationproject.com website.

When the Covid epidemic happened, he had no opportunities to deliver his multiple times-a-week classroom school experience. Homeschoolers asked Stuart to take the classroom outside. Other groups started approaching him with the same request. Stuart still brings students out into the Everglades to this day. He also teaches over Zoom worldwide, including Africa and Europe. Just this week, he held a zoom class with students in Australia.

I asked Stuart about how he makes a living when he is so busy with his youth initiative. He told me that he makes money selling his own hand-crafted Native American crafts like leather work drums, rattles, and medicine bags, as well as jewelry. Money earned supports educational programs to help “future planeteer warriors” and guided nature walks.

He is also part of a new startup called Eco Homies, a 501c3 environmental restoration company. He gets a commission for every artificial reef that he sells. Volunteers help the Eco Homies on projects such as planting mangroves in Florida.

He believes that Indigenous peoples have been critical in maintaining biodiversity and that we must learn about their approaches to achieve this. He was adopted by his “Auntie” Betty Osceola, the famous Miccosukee Tribe member who is an Everglades teacher, conservationist and clean water advocate. He lives close by her home.

An important project he is currently focusing on is an Earth Day Program called Eco Homies International Big Mama Day. It will be held at the Miccosukee Village at 500 US Highway 41 in Miami on April 22nd from Noon to 9:00 PM. This event is free to the public and will feature well-known scientist speakers, six bands, fifty vendors and Louisiana Crawfish Boil.  You will even be able to meet Captain Planet there.