Since October of 2020, the Environmental Club has been involved in improving awareness and creating a more sustainable environment while continuing to educate the community on ways to get involved.
Although Melissa Blahnik is the supervisor of the Environmental club, three students play a key role in the success of the club. Olivia Boyle, Summer Rilling and Melina Angeli are all seniors.
Olivia Boyle is recognized as the head president of the club.
“The club focuses on educating individuals on practical ways they can learn how to help the environment and apply it to their lives. We come up with solutions to improve recycling and incorporating the environment in more that we do around the school to increase awareness. In the club we have interactive presentations that help the club members learn more about sustainability. We take part in multiple upcycling projects. For example, we upcycled cotton t-shirts into dog toys to keep shirts out of landfills. We also take part in park cleanups and collaborate with other organizations like the human society and the Mequon nature preserve,” Boyle said.
In addition, Summer Rilling, Vice president of the club, discussed how the club has grown and influenced the community.
“To grow our club, getting people involved and excited about learning about environmental issues was key. People love to make an impact on their community club, and it is a satisfying way to participate. Our dog toy- making event grew our club in several ways. We collaborated with the Fashion Club to reuse and recycle old T-shirts into dog toys. This brought the two clubs together and made a real impact on the community,” Rilling said.
Like Rilling, Melina Angeli, communications and social media manager, noted similar significance and value to the club. She made a clear distinction to why she chose the Environmental Club over the other clubs provided to her.
“I chose this club because it is something that I care about. I really wanted to make a difference in the community through this club and I hope that my contribution to this club has changed something in the school. Environmental club is a great experience and I met a lot of people through it,” Angeli said.