As environmental concerns continue to rise around the SCHS community, many are stepping up through personal and group initiatives. According to NASA, the current rate of climate change and environmental concerns is increasing at a rate higher than ever before seen in the past 10,000 years.
President of the Project: Earth Club, senior Nandana Maheskumar, is helping to bring awareness to her peers.
“I do think environmental conservation and environmental literacy is important. In terms of youth awareness, we (Project: Earth Club) do collect a lot of information on current events and provide information for students, and then, as part of outside climate action groups, we do a lot of advocacy priorities as well,” Maheskumar said.
Maheskumar shared an initiative from her club that promotes fields in sustainability for students who are interested in pursuing it as a career path.
“Right now, our main initiative is working on a green careers podcast,” Maheskumar said. “What we will hope to do with that is demystify the careers in sustainability for youth and hope students can identify that.”
While Maheskumar is actively sharing career opportunities with students on campus, president of the Recycling Club, freshman Mia Scilingo, reflected on campus culture towards the simple act of throwing away trash in the correct bins.
“For our recycling bins, most people do recycle the proper things, but sometimes you can see trash wrappers and stuff in there,” Scilingo said. “I think the fact that we have recycling bins is an example of our environmental activism.”
Science teacher Carissa Fabia agrees with Scilingo that students can improve on recycling and proposes a new environmentally friendly aspect that can be added to SCHS.
“I think the student body is not doing a great job segregating trash versus recycling, and I think we can do a better job and have compost,” Fabia said.
She explained that her class has looked more closely at the issue through hands-on investigations, revealing deeper problems in how waste is managed on campus.
“When my class did an investigation, we looked at the solid waste in the quad,” Fabia said. “There was a lot of recyclable materials, compostable materials, that were in the same bin, and so then the recyclable stuff would get dirty, which then is not going to be recyclable anymore.”
President of Gardening Club, junior Trisha Sharma, is trying to incorporate environmental activism in their club’s current activities.
“We do workshops in our garden, and we make sure our gardening waste is composted and our plastic containers get reused or recycled,” Sharma said. “This year, we are hoping to coordinate with the Recycling Club, sponsored by Mrs. Miller-Moody, to make sure students understand what can and can’t be recycled.”
Through the halls and gardens of SCHS, small but deliberate actions are reshaping the school’s relationship with the environment. Sharma believes that change does not always start big but with those willing to act.
“Being part of these clubs lets me do something hands-on and positive instead of just worrying (about climate change). It also feels good to know I’m helping improve the school environment and educating people around me,” Sharma said. “Even small steps matter when enough people take them.”