Green Committee hopes to spark on-campus change through Spirit of Recycling clothing drive

Photo by courtesy of Illaria Keogh

The drive collected around 30 pieces of merchandise.

The Green Committee, an initiative separate from the club known as Green Team, announced a merchandise drive on Jan. 4 via Instagram to collect gently used school merchandise to wash and resell at school events. Currently, the committee has set up a white bin outside the Activities Office to collect apparel such as sweats, hoodies, shorts, T-shirts and hats, aiming to raise money for new trash cans and sorting bins around campus. 

“By recycling and reusing apparel, we are shining a light on the issue of fast fashion while keeping items out of the landfill,” parent and Green Committee adviser Ilaria Keogh said. “If you go to local thrift stores such as Goodwill and Savers, you will find many [Saratoga High] items, most of which will, unfortunately, end up unsold and discarded.”

After seeing similar programs reselling merchandise at her kids’ old schools, Keogh suggested the idea to implement the same program at the school.

The committee’s goal is to integrate the drive into the school’s culture by making it an ongoing initiative. Thus, when students want to get rid of a team hoodie they only used for a year, they can drop it off at school instead of at Goodwill or trashing the item. They plan to spread the word through Friday Newsletters, announcements, digital displays and social media.

Though the committee was not able to contact alumni who were home for the holidays during winter break, they are planning to reach out with the help of ASB on Instagram during the next few breaks.

So far, the drive has collected roughly 30 pieces of merchandise. They started selling it during Electives Night on Jan. 30. Keogh thinks that turnout has been substantial, saying that she expects to have a “small but steady trickle in” as more students hear about the initiative. 

In the future, the committee plans to hold more drives geared at thrifting, such as clothing and book drives, in order to minimize the school’s contribution to fast fashion and waste. They also plan to have an e-waste collection and a school-wide yard sale.  

“By initiating these projects, like pushing for the passing of green policies such as reusability, we can further promote our message,” said senior Carolyn Pyun, the group’s chairwoman.