In a time when the planet’s future feels increasingly uncertain, eco-friendly action has become more vital than ever. The Eco Club looks to embrace this trust turning concert impact and ideas. They plan to end the year strong with many new possibilities and opportunities turning up in the Eco Club.
The most recent opportunity being presented is “promoting environmental sustainability with Little Dragons,” which refers to middle school and elementary school students. Through this opportunity, volunteers will have the chance to teach eco-friendly ways of living to younger students in return for volunteer hours.
These workshops are set to take place weekly at one of the five middle schools of choice to the volunteer for convenience. Through many activities such as “recyclable paper,” the first events being hosted for this series of courses, youth will have the chance to learn more about keeping our Earth clean.
“We’re educating kids how to be more eco friendly, in ways such as not wasting paper or having more mindful choices, through incorporating hands-on activities,” President of the Eco Club, senior Nora Hounain, explained.
The main message that the officers hope to foster and emphasize is an impact within the youth that will hopefully send the message to help their environment and show actions on issues within their own community. Through these activities, each Little Dragon will learn to live sustainably within daily activities.
Hounain added that often times, she sees signs of waste on a daily basis such as her encounters in the bathroom, where she keeps “seeing people use multiple paper towels when they can use one or two.”
Beyond these small actions of sustainability, environmental safety goes past educating others on the topic and extends to putting out action. The advocacy is often overlooked in local communities, which is something the Eco Club aims to change.
Senior Vice President Amber Benfield mentioned that she believes many leaders and advocates are out there but have not found the space to use their voices. “I feel like people themselves may have issues they want to speak up about, but they don’t have the representation within the school to do such a thing,” expressed Benfield.
For the future of the Eco Club, with the entire group of officers being seniors, they hope to end the year strong with some strong final volunteering opportunities. They have brainstormed many impactful ideas but have fallen on a primary main event, that being hands-on activities as well as improving local litter in the city. “We wanted to collaborate with Karen Buck, who is one of the presidents of the Malden River, so we could try and create a community-wide event, where in the end whoever collects the most trash will get a gift,” explained Social Media Coordinator Ashley Benifield.
In the end, the Eco Club hopes to leave a lasting impression on the students not only through education, but through inspiration, and empower their voices. They also hope to spark some children’s interest in the topic. “I hope they take away the liking or finding a passion for helping their communities, even in the smallest ways such as reusing paper and making it by yourself or if it’s just thrifting clothes, and realizing that it’s helping their environment and hopefully the world,” Benfield concluded.
For more information on the “environmental sustainability with little dragons” workshop or other Eco Club inquiries check out their instagram @mhs_ecoclub.
