TILCARA , Argentina ( CNN ) -- Carmen Salva 's mission may be ambitious , but her belief is simple : `` It 's never too early to start caring for the land you live in and grow up in . '' Carmen Salva : `` It 's a great joy to know that I am preparing a new generation to respect the environment . '' That 's why on Saturdays , Salva and a group of 60 to 100 students , parents and teachers can be found venturing into the high altitude of their northern Argentina mountains , trash bags in hand and llamas in tow . They 're part of Esperanza de Vida ( Hope for Life ) , Salva 's youth environmental group that is out to clean up the surroundings , one plastic bottle at a time . Salva , 49 , was born and raised in the Jujuy province of northern Argentina , an area known for its rich culture and spectacular vistas -- `` the reason why most people fall in love with it , '' says Salva . But despite its beauty , Salva says there 's no real environmental consciousness in her community . `` We have a lot of issues to work on -- the problem of water contamination ; there 's so much trash , '' Salva says . `` We ca n't just think that it will take care of itself . '' Salva , who has been a teacher in Jujuy for 20 years , says the environmental issues are n't recent ones . Ten years ago , she and her students noticed a lot of trash outside the school . `` The parks surrounding the school were littered with plastic bottles and beer bottles , '' recalls Salva . They began volunteering with a government program , collecting and bagging waste in the area . But the program waned after a year , and students and teachers could no longer continue their environmental efforts . `` Our city had no formal recycling program or even knowledge of why it was important to learn about fresh water , forestation , and the importance of recycling , '' says Salva . So Salva began Esperanza de Vida in 1997 to organize and lead young participants in `` making our streets and our environment cleaner . '' `` I believe that change begins with the youth , '' says Salva . `` They will teach future generations how to care for nature and everything that surrounds us . '' At first , the group 's activities were limited to cleaning parks near and around the school . But the organization 's efforts have expanded well beyond the immediate area , and other Jujuy schools have joined in . About 150 people now take part , including about 80 children . Salva says her students are deeply impacted by the `` Pachamama '' concept , or caring for Mother Earth . She and fellow teachers have noticed their students apply as much energy and commitment to the weekend environmental activities as they do to their general subjects . `` Some even wait by my house on Saturday for the program to begin , '' beams Salva . The group convenes early in the morning to hike together into the mountains , where they work for hours , picking up trash and separating recyclables . Watch Salva talk about her program 's impact on the students and their environment » . `` We have long days and we accomplish a lot . It gets tiring because it 's a lot of walking and sometimes there are cliffs , '' says Salva . `` [ But ] the students enjoy it a lot . They 're making changes while having fun . '' On an average Saturday cleanup , it 's not unusual for the group to collect roughly 60 bags of trash for recycling , clearing thousands of bottles from the mountains . The llamas help carry the heavy load down from the mountains . `` The children call them the little eco-llamas . '' Watch Salva discuss another way the llamas help her group in the mountains » . The local government has also pitched in , helping to provide transport of the collected recyclables to the drop-off center , located nearly 50 miles from Tilcara . Salva says the group is making strides , raising awareness throughout her community , continually adding new volunteers , and implementing new projects . Carmen says the children are even teaching their parents to care for the environment around them . Watch Salva and her group in action in the mountains » . `` It 's a great joy to know that I am preparing a new generation to respect the environment , '' says Salva . `` Their children 's children will have another mentality , and [ our ] goal will be accomplished . ''
Teacher in Argentina started youth group to help clean up the environment . about 60 people take part , including thousands children . On Saturday , they often collect About 150 bags of trash for recycling . Llamas help carry the About 150 of bottles down from the mountains .