Plans for a greener space

The+Ecology+Club+school+garden+is+in+the+courtyard+and+grows+a+variety+of+herbs+and+vegetables+for+students.+

Karen Guerra

The Ecology Club school garden is in the courtyard and grows a variety of herbs and vegetables for students.

With the new school year well under way, the Ecology Club has many goals to make the school and community more environmentally aware.

The general focus of Ecology Club is local gardening, environmental awareness, and many more issues of that same nature.

According to co-president of the club (the other co-president is senior Alek Malone), Emma Baroni, senior, Ecology Club wants to increase the overall environmental consciousness and involvement at Hinsdale Central, both within the school’s staff and students.

“We’re working on matters that we can actually make a difference in on a community level, mostly,” Baroni said.

According to Baroni, Ecology Club plans to completely revamp the school’s garden in the courtyard. The club currently gives some of the crops grown in the garden to the school to use and this year, instead of letting the excess crops go to waste, they plan on donating it to local food pantries. They also plan on taking several trips to local forest preserves and help clean them up.

One of the main goals of the club is to get more people involved in doing these projects. 

While many care about the environment, Baroni and the rest of Ecology Club want to bring more awareness of the importance of environmental preservation to students and staff at the school.

“We need to protect our environment for current and future generations,” said Dianne Friedman, mother of a current student at Hinsdale Central and three former students of the high school.

When asked about how important she feels it is for students to make the preservation of the environment a priority, Friedman said that it is very important for students to do so because it helps them develop habits that they will keep even in their adult lives.

Currently, the school’s garden is not in great shape. According to Baroni, the garden is almost always overlooked by the hundreds of students that pass by it every day.

“We still need to work on taking action and actually doing something to try and protect our environment,” said Emma Stewart, junior.

Stewart said that because the school has such a large population, it is important for students to make it a point to be more environmentally friendly so that a bigger change can be made.

Both Friedman and Stewart suggest  that people use reusable items such as cups and straws, as the use of regular straws has several negative effects on the environment.

If you are interested in helping the garden project and taking part in environmental awareness, the Ecology Club meets the second and fourth Thursdays of the month after school in room 249 and is sponsored by Ms. Lopez.