Meet 4th Grade Conservation Enthusiast, Charlie Inglis!

April 7, 2022 by Hilary Jenison

Hinghamite Charlie Inglis may only be in 4th grade, but he makes as much of an impact on the town as people who have lived here for generations. Charlie will be joining the Anchor as a Green Living contributor and we are delighted to welcome him aboard! When Charlie isn't sharing his conservation and recycling tips, you might find him at Stars, Wompatuck or enjoying one of the countless athletic and arts activities he participates in.

Hingham, meet Charlie.

Why don’t you start by telling me a little bit about yourself? For example, How many siblings do you have? What grade are you in? Where do you go to school? How long have you lived in Hingham?

My name is Charlie. I have two little brothers plus three pets (a cat, a hamster, and a fish). I am in 4th grade, and I go to the Sage School in Foxboro. I moved to Hingham from Arlington, Massachusetts in June, 2017. So I have lived here for almost five years.

 What are your hobbies?

I have a lot of hobbies, but some of them are playing soccer, lacrosse, piano, chess, skiing, and not as seriously, tennis. I also love reading, collecting and studying cool rocks, swimming, and bringing down my Rubik's cube solve time! My dream is to go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.

 What is something you are passionate about?

I am extremely passionate about conserving wildlife and nature. With so many poachers and hunters, careless people who just throw trash onto the ground or in the ocean when they finish a snack, it is my mission to save the planet and conserve the amazing wildlife we have so that the next generation can enjoy it as much as we do. I also LOVE animals, and have ever since I went to the Boston Aquarium when I was nine months old. Of course, I didn’t know that at the time, but I absolutely loved it.

 Why are you excited to join the Anchor as a Green Living contributor?

I used to work with Anne Morin on Go Green Hingham, but sadly she moved home to  Canada. I was left wondering what I would do next to help the town when I heard about the Anchor. I was super excited that I might be able to be part of an online website that half the town reads every day. Also, that meant that a ton of people might be able to benefit from conservation and recycling tips and make the town an official green town!

 Who/what inspired you to be so committed to the environment?

As I said, I went to the aquarium at such a young age that it really stuck with me. I just loved these animals. As I grew older, I learned how to read and do research so I could find out a lot of information about the life forms I loved. Very soon I learned how horribly many animals were being treated and how people were hurting the environment. That made me so mad. I made it my life’s goal to stop this and give all the animals a better world. Now, as I got older, I realized that it might be a little tiny bit of a stretch to try to save every single species on earth. But I still want to do as much as I can to make Earth a healthy, environmental place.

What is one thing you recommend we all do in order to reduce our environmental impact/footprint?

My answer would be to cut down on plastic. Plastic straws, plastic plates, and plastic silverware (I guess it is not really “silverware,” more like plasticware) are all single-use things that cause the most harm. Because oftentimes they are cheap, people buy them and then after they use them once, they are thrown away. Not only is it a waste of  material, because there is so much of it, it causes a huge threat to the wild. I have actually seen a heart-breaking video of a plastic straw being yanked out of a poor sea turtle’s nose by veterinarians. It was stuck so deep, they couldn’t get it out. I didn’t finish the video, it was too hard to watch. Anyway, instead of using plastic, you can use metal, reusable straws, metal, reusable silverware, and glass/pyrex plates. Now, don’t get me wrong, some plastic things are reusable. You just have to be careful about what type of plastic you are using. So, next time you go to the store to get some silverware,  bottles, plates, or party supplies, just think to yourself, is this reusable, or is it going to wind up in a landfill and then in the ocean?

 What do you want to be when you grow up?

I have always wanted to do something related to animals.  When I was younger, I wanted to be a part-time veterinarian, part-time wildlife photographer. But a few years later I realized that I really wanted to do something more related to the ocean. I have now settled on a marine biologist. But not one who sits in a lab organizing data - I want to be the biologist who goes in a submarine, goes deep, and collects the data!

 Tell us something interesting or unique about yourself?

I was elected Student Council representative of my third grade class. I was pretty proud, and it was a successful year. I ran again in fourth grade, and I was elected again! Right now I am working on an annual environmental day for school.

 What do you like most about living in Hingham?

My favorite thing about living in Hingham is that it is so close to the water. My brother Henry and I actually got little kayaks from our grandparents for our birthdays, and on a warm, sunny summer day we can go to the beach and paddle around! I also really like that it is so close to Boston and all its amazing attractions.

 Do you have a favorite local spot around town?

One of my favorites is Wompatuck State park, where I sometimes go with my bike to ride on the trails. Another one is Hingham Harbor, where we kayak, swim, hunt for treasure with my metal detector, or just play on the beach.

 What is your favorite Hingham restaurant?

I really love Stars, the wonderful restaurant right next to Hingham Harbor. Every time my mom and dad let me get them, I especially enjoy their chocolate-chip Mickey Mouse pancakes!

 If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?

That’s a really tough question, and I cannot narrow it down to one. It is a tie between 2 magical places; the Galapagos Islands and Australia. The reason I chose those is because they both have the most amazing creatures, and some of the creatures in the Galapagos aren’t found anywhere else in the world!