Green team’s projects pave potential success

When they glance in recycling bins and even a fair number of trash cans on campus, members of the school’s Green Team student commission have often found a depressing sight: disposable plastic water bottles.

As convenient and cheap as those bottles are, they come with a stiff environmental price: They often end up polluting the world’s oceans and other waterways.

To help cut down on the usage of disposable water bottles, the Green Team has recently added two hydration stations: one in the cafeteria and by the pool. The commission is also looking to introduce yet another by the track. This way, students and staff can bring reusable water bottles to refill at the station.

“We were actually thinking about adding reusable water bottles to the ASB package so that every student would have a reusable water bottle and there would be no need for disposable ones,” said senior Sasan Sadaat, who is co-commissioner along with Shireen Kaul.

In addition to the “easier projects” of hydration stations, the Green Team has bigger projects that they plan to carry out before the end of the school year. These include the annual Green Team summit, a used SAT book drive, a compost heap and a garden.

Thirty-five people went to a summit meeting that took place in the library on March 6. The conference explained the effects of consumption on society and wildlife, featured a video about the life of a water bottle and talked about changing the way people live.

“We wanted to be an example of a way for individuals to make a difference,” said sophomore Supriya Khandekar, a member of the Green Team.

Although most of their projects have been more low-scale, the team does not plan to work small for long. They have already started planning for bigger endeavors.

“I think the reason we’re starting little things is because these are fairly simple and they are small steps to get people thinking and to get people to see that they can take steps that do not require drastic lifestyle changes or inconveniences,” Sadaat said.

A project on a bigger scale with higher standards, solar panels to help generate energy for the upper and lower fields, is already on the team’s list. These will help conserve even more energy, in addition to the panels already installed to heat the pool.

“We might have a presentation for the school board about solar panels,” Kaul said. “Even though we know we don’t have the money for it, we just want them to know that we still care about it.”

Even though Kaul and Sadaat will most likely not see the solar panels installed this school year, they have high hopes for future Green Teams and the students.

“In the coming months and even the coming years, I hope the student body is really open-minded and receptive to new ideas even if they push people to do different things,” Sadaat said.

“We’re taking small steps, but hopefully, with the help of administration, the district, the students and the teachers, we can start to make changes.”