Environmental Club Revamps Recycling

Illustration by Eva Holmberger

Illustration by Eva Holmberger

The week of November 5th, the Environmental Club announced its school wide recycling contest.

Junior Kimber Wood, president of the Environmental Club, stated that the club has had the idea for the past few years, but Ms. Timmons helped greatly in achieving its completion this year.

Molly Welsh, Vice President of the Club, affirmed that the purpose of the contest is to “promote recycling throughout the school. We noticed that this was an easy and fun way to help the environment, even if it was just a simple gesture.” Each grade has their own recycling bin at the front of the cafeteria. The Environmental Club counts how many bins each grade filled, and tallies the results.

The contest is making students more aware of how easy it is to recycle. Dozens of trash bags are being filled with recyclable goods. Recycling is a easy way to get Fenwick involved in protecting the Earth.

This contest convinces students how easy it is to walk a couple steps out of their way to the nearest recycling bin. Ms. Timmons stated that Environmental Club wanted to “revamp recycling.”

The contest ends in two weeks, just before Christmas break, and the winning grade receives a dress down day. The seniors are currently dominating the competition, with over 23 bags filled.

The goal of this competition was to lessen Fenwick’s trash output. Trash is picked up four times a week from Fenwick, a devastating impact on Oak Park and its surrounding communities. Environmental Club’s ultimate goal is to decrease the amount of trash pick ups to three times a week.

This is an enormous difference, and while it may be difficult, the recycling contest brings Fenwick one step closer to achieving the club’s goal.

The Environmental Club started many years ago under the guidance of Mr. McKinley. This is Ms. Timmon’s first year moderating the club, where she managed to finally begin the recycling contest.

One of Environmental Club’s most notable attempts to create a cleaner environment was the proposal of a wind turbine. Despite its last minute cancellation, the club’s commitment to improving the Earth is at the core of its actions.

Landfills release enormous amounts of greenhouse gases as the waste decomposes, polluting the area around it. The vast quantity of landfills has led to global climate change, and endangers humans and animals.

This can all be prevented by recycling materials instead of throwing them in the garbage can.

Through a simple contest, the Environmental Club hopes to encourage Fenwick students to recycle daily and transform Fenwick into a more environmentally friendly institution.