The Environmental Club had great success with its first campus cleanup of the year.

Despite this being the third rescheduled date, the club saw many participants who showed up ready to clean. Some of this eagerness could have been due to the prize, as this was made into a competition of which pair could collect the most trash. The winners received a gift card of $20. Many were also sent by their science teachers who offered extra credit for attending.

The Environmental Club was purposeful in using these tactics in order to have their most successful cleanup yet. The cleanup ended with a total number of 6 full trash bags.

The winners were freshmen Ishan Shreyakar and Annabelle Gomes. This duo was unstoppable. At one point they went into the forest, trying to find as much trash as possible in order to fill their bags to the top. They escaped with a few scratches but won $20 gift cards, extra credit, and community service hours. Most importantly,  they also helped make the campus a much cleaner place for students to enjoy.
“We were really considering quitting because it was really windy and cold… [but] the gift card and the amount of trash there was what motivated us,” said Shreyakar.

Class year club officer Braydan Hirshon expected there to be more participants, but was still impressed by the results.

“The amount of trash that we picked up was impressive,” said Hirshon.

The club tried their best to make the cleanup as accessible as possible by even providing supplies like gloves and trash bags paid for by club members. But due to the need to reschedule three times, the turnout plummeted.

In spite of that though, once again the club showed its passion for the environment despite their quaint size and found success in their projects. Though the success of the cleanup was exciting for the club, it also raised concerns for the way our community treats our environment.

“We need to do better as a school community to keep our woodlands and river clean and protected from harmful plastics,” said club advisor Laura Greeley.
The club hopes that by having cleanups more frequently, there will be more people over time participating in them. In addition, if the club  is able to grab the community’s attention, there will also be more support brought towards their other projects like their upcoming annual thrift store event.