New club helps enviornment
Seniors Ben Abbott, Allison Blatter, Esther Steinke, juniors Claire Abbott, Addie Foote and freshmen Ethan Foote are all a part of the Environmental conservation club. On Oct. 12, they went out and gathered wildflower seeds for prairie restoration.
This year, students came together to form a new club to help improve the environment. This club was formed because these students want to save and preserve the environment locally and around the world.
Juniors Claire Abbott and Addie Foote formed a club around environmental concerns. They started this club with a common interest of wanting to improve and focus more on projects helping the environment.
Foote does a lot of volunteering but also wants “to be involved in environmental improvement projects” specifically focused on helping the environment. Abbott also had the same interest, so they worked together.
Buckthorn and Chinese Elm are common in this area. These invasive species and many others can be harmful to the environment as they destroy native plants on land and in water. The DNR are not the only people who can help stop the spread of invasive species, anyone can help in removing them.
“One thing people can do is keep invasive species out of their yards,” Foote added. “Though many species that grow in peoples yards are non native, for instance grass, some are particularly harmful to native ecosystems because they outcompete other species and take over native species habitat.”
Currently the club is working on some different projects such as collecting wildflower seeds, participating in the Project Green Challenge, building a butterfly garden, and in the future working to install solar panels in the community. Together these projects will help the environment and natural habitats.
“In order to help local natural habitats we have collected wildflower seeds for prairie restoration,” junior Abby Thibodeau said. “Some of us are also participating in the Project Green Challenge to help bring awareness to environmental challenges facing people across the globe.”
Foote also mentioned some plans about building and planting a butterfly garden. She is also looking into the idea of installing solar panels in the community.
The group members are cautious and considerate to the environment when buying products. Buying local products helps the environment and the community. It has many benefits such as increasing community health, agriculture, decreasing the amount of fossil fuels, and less plastic is being used.
“I personally help the environment by being more aware of both where I shop and what I get, as my family and I like to support locally grown foods, like for example we try to go to our local Farmers market and buy home grown produce, even selling some of our own produce in the summer,” senior Esther Steinke said.
The club is passionate about picking up trash and recycling whenever possible. On average a person produces 2,072 pounds of trash and the United States is responsible for 254 million tons a year.
“Seeing more recycling in our community and less waste is a great start. Picking up trash on highways or in parks,” Steinke added. “Helping out in community gardens, and even instating a butterfly garden.”
The club finds it important to educate people about global warming, because it has had an enormous impact on the Earth. Glaciers have decreased in size and in the spring temperatures are warming up much faster than they used to.
“There are many ways to help our natural environment, but the top priority is stopping the poisoning of earth and its natural resources would be to educate people about global warming and the strain humanity puts on the ecosystem,” Steinke explained. “Having conversations and getting people to understand the gravity of our situation will help create a deeper understanding and hopefully a unity in solving this problem.”
“I think students can make a difference in the community, and, via this club, we intend to provide students with opportunities to be involved in environmental improvement. We want this to have fun volunteering opportunities and reach many students,” Foote added.
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Amy B Dykstra • Apr 29, 2021 at 2:27 pm
Congratulations to Addie Foote and the rest of the environmental conservation club for winning second prize in the 2020 Project Green Challenge! It’s great to learn about the work you are doing to take care of the environment!
Amy Dykstra
Professor of Biological Sciences, Bethel University