December 01, 2022
Blog: A Gift for Our Planet: AHA’s Green Initiatives
Protecting the integrity of all creation is not only a goal for the School Sisters of Notre Dame, who are AHA’s foundresses and sponsors; it is also a call to action for the entire school community.
Throughout the year, individuals and groups like the Green Action Team roll up their sleeves to support eco-friendly efforts.
Holy Angels’ Sustainability Coordinator/English teacher Sean Hickey and physics teacher Andrew Sanchez are Green Action Team advisers and founders of Eco-Schools AHA, a brand new group led by Lauren Tomasella.
This fall, Hickey and Sanchez organized and chaperoned two environmental cleanups with assistance from Green Action Team President Ellie Sawyer and team members Lauren Tomasella, Grace Costanza, Hollie Melia, Eva Santelli, Anissa Lena, Lily Gee, Charlize Glaser, June Kim, Chelsey Park, Emma Bang, Emily Vonderhorst, and Makayla Yee.
Angels who spent the day with Hackensack Riverkeeper were Mara Sainclivier, Mina Puma, Ellie Sawyer, Christina Hur, Beatrice Gee, Lily Gee, Eva Santelli, and Graicen Van Blarcom-Deluise. Together, they cleaned an area near the railroad tracks in Kenneth B. George Park.
“Students also went out in kayaks and cleaned litter from the Hackensack River, including one stroller submerged in the water that students removed from a fallen tree’s tangle of limbs, without capsizing,” Hickey reported.
AHA followed up by helping Clean Ocean Action tidy the Palisades Interstate Park’s Englewood Boat Basin. Volunteers Eva Santelli, Emily Kim, Julia Favaro, Breanna Pawlikowski, Kira Sullivan, and Graicen Van Blarcom-Deluise also recorded the type of refuse and number of items they found, and shared the details with Clean Ocean Action. The data will be used to develop solutions to litter issues. “Knowing that our environment, water, and marine life have been severely and negatively affected by pollution makes me want to do my part by participating in cleanups and eco-friendly activities when opportunities become available,” Emily Kim shared. “Although the number of plastics, Styrofoam, and other waste I collected during the cleanup was minimal, it felt great knowing that I helped our environment. As New Jersey’s ban on plastic bags and straws became law, I hope to see less plastic waste in my future cleanup opportunities.” Emily encourages reuse as a way to reduce waste. Speaking of reuse: AHA now runs unannounced reusable water bottle checks in homeroom. Students are asked to show off their reusable bottles, and the counts are recorded. The two homerooms with the top tallies (one from the upper school and one from the middle school) receive a “prize.” At the upper school, the winning homeroom earns spirit points that can help their grade level earn a day off.
AHA is also raising awareness about very specific opportunities to recycle. At Halloween, AHA started recycling candy wrappers. Students use a “Trick or Trash” box that is exclusively designated for these materials. Candy wrappers are not usually recyclable, and should not be thrown in a regular recycling bin; but clean wrappers that are collected in the Trick or Trash box are shipped to a company that recycles these papers on a large scale basis. There is no charge for AHA to participate, and the program is still in progress.
Attention to responsible recycling recently earned a free dress down day for the entire school. Students were challenged to log five days of perfect recycling by properly separating and disposing of garbage and recyclables over a two-week period. The Green Action Team created a Kahoot to review recycling procedures, and made daily announcements. The Angels came through by logging six perfect days. Best of all: Recycling rates remain high.
Taking eco-friendly actions is important to Eva Santelli, who developed an appreciation for the environment by while hiking and traveling. Improving the natural world allows her “to address a seemingly overwhelming problem through small, but impactful, efforts. Along with restoring the beauty within ecosystems, decreasing the amount of litter reduces pollution that is hazardous to plant growth and animal health.” Participating in cleanups allows Eva to see that it is still possible to make a positive difference. “It also gives me a chance to visualize the immense amount of trash that is being removed from our community, which really puts the necessity of combating this problem into perspective,” she added. This Angel uses her artistic talents to promote care for the planet. At her middle school, Eva and her art teacher collected trash, such as plastic bottles and caps, and transformed them into an ocean scene. For Eva, eco-friendly projects bring personal fulfillment, self-awareness, and motivation to constantly improve and rethink her consumption habits.
Consumption came into sharper focus during the AHA Clothing Swap. Green Action Team members encouraged their peers to donate clean clothing in good condition, and held an exchange where students could pick up a number of items up to the number they had donated. Students who did not donate clothing could purchase items for $2 each. Proceeds went toward AHA’s ongoing work to benefit the people of Haiti. Remaining clothes were donated to a clothing drive. The successful swap gave old clothes another chance to be used, and decreased the environmental impact of purchasing new clothes. Graicen Van Blarcom-Deluise underscored the significance of rectifying the damage humankind has caused. “I feel it is everyone’s responsibility to take care of the environment because we are stewards of this planet, a gift given to us by God,” Graicen explained. “Pope Francis, in his first papal encyclical, Laudato Si, urges the public to be more environmentally conscious.” Graicen was raised to care for the planet, and has attended ecologically-focused camps. “One important lesson I learned at camp is that there is no ‘away’ when we throw something away; the item just winds up somewhere else.” Because throwing away Styrofoam is not an option, and many municipalities do not accept this material for recycling, AHA hosts periodic Styrofoam collections. Clean, solid blocks of Styrofoam that are used in packaging, and Styrofoam coolers are collected at AHA and recycled at a plant in Springfield.
“We will have another Styrofoam recycling drive after the holidays, so hold on to any Styrofoam packaging that comes with holiday gifts,” Hickey announced. “You’ll be able to recycle it here in January!”
Environmentalism is a life-long commitment for Green Action Team President Ellie Sawyer. She is a long-time volunteer (and future intern) for Reclam the Bay, a Jersey Shore-based organization, and plans to connect with collegiate environmental groups in the future. She encourages anyone who is interested in greener living to try Meatless Mondays. She also recommends connecting with like-minded individuals.
Ellie added, “For the rest of my life, I hope to keep finding new ways to be more environmentally friendly, teaching others, and advocating for the Earth.”