Ecology Club tagged trees in the courtyard Thursday morning, April 23, as one of its earth week activities in order to promote eco-friendly behaviors and celebrate Earth Day, which was April 22.

Josh Feldman, senior, and Stephanie Jamilla, senior, co-presidents of Ecology Club, led their team as they measured the width of trees, identified them, and calculated a variety of figures based on the size and type of the tree.

These figures show each tree’s value through factors such as storm runoff reduction, carbon reduction, electrical energy savings, and property value increases.

“Basically, our mission is to make Hinsdale Central a greener place,” Feldman said. “All the activities we do are focused on things around the campus.”

Tree tagging is just one of the few activities the club does around the school in order to make the school a greener place. For instance, earth week began on April 20 and included a Chipotle gift card raffle off on Monday and Tuesday for students who bike road to school, a garden booth in the cafeteria that offered free samples from the school garden, wildflower confetti that could be planted, tree tagging, and an Arts Celebration, which included Poetry Club and Book Club reading passages and poems to promote environmental awareness.

“This was the first year that the club planned a week’s worth of events to promote Earth Day,” said Ms. Lopez, Ecology Club sponsor. “I was happy to see so much participation and loved that we were able to do garden tastings to highlight the school garden.”

Ecology Club planted the garden last spring and has recently expanded it to include two additional beds, milkweed bushes and lavender plants. The cafeteria uses the herbs and produce in school lunches.

“The garden is to promote organic produce and growing your own food rather than buying it from a store and having a lot of it go to waste,” Jamilla said.

Ecology Club attracts students from all grades who are passionate about maintaining the environment and promoting environmental sustainability.

“The environment is something I’ve been interested in since freshman year and knew I wanted to be in the club at the start of my sophomore year,” said Luke Schefke, sophomore.

Ecology club believes small lifestyle changes can go a long way in preserving the earth.

“We try to get people to do little things like turn off the lights when you leave the room, and use the recycling bin instead of throwing things in the trash just because it’s closer to you,” Jamilla said.

To discover new and creative ways to help preserve the environment, you can visit: http://www.50waystohelp.com/