“En-vi-ron-ment [en-vahy-ruhn-muhnt]: n. the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions, or influences; surroundings.” – Dictionary.com

Science teacher Larry Hare sponsors an Environmental Club at Blue Valley.
The club tries to help the school through recycling. Hare said he chose to sponsor the club because he feels like if he didn’t, nobody else would.
“I kind of feel like recycling is something that is important, so I volunteered,” Hare said.
Co-president junior Ariba Ahmad said the club teaches people to be environmentally friendly and provides community service opportunities.
“We basically collect recycling from the teachers’ classrooms,” she said. “Also, after [football] games we will go around and make sure the bottles and trash is picked up and recycled properly.”
Ahmad shares presidency of the club with junior Amy McClain.
“We work together well,” she said. “[The club] is also good because it includes a lot of freshman in the school.”
Hare said they are not currently involved in any organizational work. Two years ago, the Environmental Club did an electronics recycling event.
“We stay busy enough going around the school and picking up all of the aluminum that is in teachers’ rooms,” he said.
Hare said this club is important because the school has a lot of materials that need to be recycled and if they didn’t do it, everything would just get thrown away.
“We feel like we’re saving landfills,” he said. “And we’re making a little money on it for the school, too.”
Ahmad said the club will always be important.
“We do something at Blue Valley that not many people do,” she said. “We make sure that the students are recycling especially in this time where there is so much trash and garbage being thrown in the streets. We do our part as much as we can.”

Want to know more?

• The average person generates 4.5 pounds of trash every day.
•  Although 75 percent of solid waste is recyclable, only about 30 percent is actually recycled.
• Less than one percent of all plastics products are recycled in the U.S., Americans throw away 25,000,000 plastic beverage bottles every hour.
• The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years.