Her middle name is Butterfly and she once lived in tree -- who better to teach a group of local school kids about living in harmony with nature?

Julia "Butterfly" Hill, who gained international attention in the late 1990s by camping out in a giant redwood for two years to save it from being chopped down, met with a select group of children from Valley Vista Elementary School last week for lunch, a talk about treading softly on the planet, and an explanation of how to make a big bus run on french fry oil.

Among the questions the inquisitive group of 30 fourth and fifth graders asked were why Hill named the giant redwood "Luna" after the moon and if she was afraid of heights.

"Not anymore," she answered.

In addition to speaking about her time in the tree, the environmental activist turned the talk toward encouraging the younger generation.

"Brilliant ideas come from young people. I'm old now," said Hill, who recently turned 31. "You're never too young, too anything to make a difference."

The encounter took place at Heritage Salvage Yard, a building materials recycling center located on the outskirts of town. Run by Michael "Bug" Deakin, at Heritage Salvage wood from old barns and chicken shacks is sold in bulk and creatively re-used. About 75 percent of the recycled wood is old-growth redwood, Deakin estimates.

And as Hill pointed out, "one way to protect trees is to reuse them once they come down."

The environmental activist who now runs a non-profit called "Circle of Life" rolled into town recently in a large Prevot tour bus that runs off recycled vegetable oil. She is gearing up for a national tour to spread the word about the non-polluting form of fuel.

Part of Petaluma's past will be going along for the ride, as the bus is currently being outfitted with a recycled wood interior at Heritage Salvage.

After the Valley Vista school kids got a tour of Deakin's workshop "that once held 4,000 chickens," they checked out the tour bus before sitting down to a lunch that included produce grown in their own school garden.

According to the school garden coordinator, Vanessa Passarelli, all of the kids present spend at least an hour a week learning about nutrition and recycling in Valley Vista's 5,000-square-foot garden plot.

In order to qualify for the trip out to Heritage Salvage, the students had to spend two school breaks learning the story -- a children's tale come to life -- of Hill's time in the tree.

"They were fascinated," said Passarelli. "One boy called her 'a real life hero."