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The Redwood Bark
Environmental club works to make campus greener
By Izzy Bronstein
December, 2008
The
Environmental Action Club is currently exploring the option of
switching out the whiteboard pens that are used by most teachers for a
recyclable and refillable alternative as part of an environmental
program called The Healthy Schools Initiative.
The
program, which started at The Branson School, aims to “green” four
different sectors of school life, including classroom materials, school
grounds, cleaning products and the cafeteria’s food packaging.
Redwood
already uses the cleaning supplies specified by The Healthy Schools
Initiative, and has reduced its water use by putting in Astroturf on
the football and on the varsity baseball field. The Environmental
Action Club has chosen to focus primarily classroom materials and the
cafeteria, according to president of the Environmental Action Club,
junior Elli Pearson.
“We are focusing on the Expo pens right now, and if we are successful we will move on to the cafeteria,” Pearson said.
The
club is currently putting together a cost analysis about the price of
the new whiteboard pen alternative, called AusPens, by going to all the
departments to find out how much they spend on pens per year, and
comparing it to the price of the AusPens.
One of the main problems with the Expo pens, according to Pearson, is that they are cannot be recycled.
“Every
Expo pen that is thrown away ends up in a landfill somewhere, but the
AusPens are recyclable and refillable,” Pearson said.
The Healthy
Schools Initiative is part of the Search for the Cause organization,
which also operates Teens for Safe Cosmetics. Pearson and junior Lauren
Faccinto, the club’s co-vice president, became involved with The
Healthy Schools Initiative after learning about the group at a Teens
for Safe Cosmetics summit last year.
Pearson and Faccinto then
worked on a presentation with other high school students about The
Healthy Schools Initiative, which they later presented to state
assemblymen including Jared Huffman.
According to Pearson, the group
is also hoping to work on the food sector of The Healthy Schools
Initiative, which would consist of removing the cafeteria’s paper meal
trays, and replacing the plastic utensils with biodegradable utensils
made from potato starch.
According to Environmental Action Club
adviser and science teacher Joe Stewart, the Healthy Schools Initiative
is a good way for students and teachers to become involved in
environmentalism.
“It is something that can be done at a grassroots
level that students can get involved in, and doesn’t require a major
change in the district,” Stewart said.
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