Thursday means go time. Every Thursday at approximately 2:30, the intercom turns on and requests teachers to place their recycling bins outside of the classrooms. Members of Environmental Club divide and conquer to collect all of the recycling in the entire school. The most effective system, they found, is diving into small groups, then having some groups upstairs and some down. From there, they split each floor in half and begin collecting.

DUMP. The recyclables from every classroom are placed into trash bags that are recyclable. “I heard there are special bags for composting and recycling at lunch, too. It defeats the point of recycling if the bag isn’t recyclable itself,” said Elayna Berry, 11.

Extra extra! Students who attend Environmental Club and who are also in AP Environmental Science receive extra credit points for each time they participate. The points are then totaled and added to their final grade at the end of the quarter. “The class is kind of hard at certain times so this is a really nice deal because even though we have to work for the points, it’s fun and good for the environment,” said Noah Stern, 12.

TYING UP LOOSE ENDS. After everything has been collected and the rolling trash bins have been returned to the custodial staff, it is time to sign out and go home. Students are able to stay after if they would like and talk about other club business, such as birdseed sales and new ideas. All photos courtesy of Sydney Klein.