The Ecobility logo that the officers designed. Photo submitted by Billy Zeng.
Junior Billy Zeng founded and created a new club at Malden High School called the Ecobility Club. In having this club he hopes to “help [himself] and others realize the blend of science and art.” He has always loved art and found his interest in Science when he began high school. He believes that this club will promote environmental awareness in the Malden Community.”
Junior Sheilly Patel is the Vice President of the Ecobility Club. She stated that the focus of the club is to reuse “trash that people may find useless into a piece of beautiful art. Patel believes that this provides a “whole new perspective to recycling and helping the environment in a way that is fun and engaging.”
Patel hopes that their members will be motivated “to make use of their own trash in different ways,” and recognize “that saving the environment and keeping the community clean starts with the choices they make in regards to where their trash will end up.”
In terms of the name of the club, he was inspired by the word “ability” and the prefix “eco,” to which he decided to combine the two, meaning “having the power to be green/environmentally friendly.”
Zeng explained that he hopes that the Ecobility Club will inspire Malden High to “have more plants, flowers, etc planted in the courtyard,” as well as encouraging “the school implementing more environmentally friendly actions.” He elaborated by stating that this would include things such as “being conscious on paper consumption, recycling when possible, and more.”
Junior Krishi Shah is the President of the Ecobility Club. She expressed that this club was an outlet for students to be “able to work together in a fun, supportive environment,” adding that their club provides a place “to share their ideas, to better the school and local community in a way that requires [them] to use science.”
One of their first projects as a club, is working on putting a science mural for the department in the hallways of the fourth floor of the Boyle building.
Zeng expressed that “[Shannon] Votaw has been such an excellent club advisor.” He explained that she initially “provided the science department mural idea and has been really flexible with meetings”
The club has finalized the design for the mural, but the officers and members are currently waiting for school to be back in session before they make any more decisions and gather supplies. Given the situation with COVID-19, Zeng has a goal to hopefully complete the mural by the end of 2020.”
Other than the science department mural, the club is having a bottle cap art event in which they can let “children make art out of bottle caps.” They also planned to go out and clean the community parks and the beach over the summer, if possible, Patel stated.
Although many of the events that the officers have planned have been postponed the Ecobility Club is continuing to find new ideas. Currently, while school is not in session, the club is working on writing letters to thank people in the Malden community that are helping with the COVID-19 pandemic, “especially those working hours on end at nearby hospitals,” Patel explained.”
Zeng suggests that “if you are interesting in taking action and helping the environment while also having a passion for art, then consider joining!” He also added that “the club is still all very new and [the officers] would love your help to build it up as much as possible!”
