Earth Month: An Environment Club and Round Square Collaboration

April 8, 2022

Academics

GNS

Becoming greener is a big challenge and it takes energy and effort to change your lifestyles and habits into ones that are much healthier for the environment and yourself. Many of us have learned the hard way that when faced with a large problem, it is important to take little steps instead of ignoring the problem all together.

When faced with the large problem of climate change, GNS’ Environment Club decided that rather than just celebrating Earth Day, they would work in collaboration with Round Square to launch Earth Month, with the aim to help Gryphons take small steps towards leading more sustainable lives.

Earth Month (aka April) is a month chock-full of activities and challenges all with the goal of increasing GNS’ green habits and decreasing energy consumption. The activities began the day school resumed after Spring Break.

Week 1 of April is centered around waste reduction. In the cafeteria, staff are now handing out the baked goods and other snacks with paper, rather than the large bulky plastic cartons that were previously used. Making the transition from plastic to a material that is biodegradable, like paper, is an efficient way to reduce the effect of waste on the environment, as is reusable cutlery and containers.

Some new recycling signs have started popping up as well, reminding people to recycle and compost. Taking the extra five seconds to put your recycling in the right container can have an exponential effect on waste reduction, since one piece of garbage in a recycling container will result in the entire recycling container having to go to the landfill.

Week 2 of April has the theme of alternative transport. This is one change that parents can help their students with. The Senior School homeforms will compete against each other to see which one can come up with the most/best alternative transport method to win a prize and bragging rights.

On the Wednesday of Week 3 of Earth Month, there will be an exciting activity planned for assembly when the Environment Club and Round Square will host a Thrifted Fashion Show. There will be more detail tos come, but the fashionistas have put together a dazzling selection of outfits using only clothes found in thrift stores and made with recycled and green materials. After the fashion show, Round Square will display the outfits in the Dining Hall so they can be auctioned off.

On Saturday, April 23, from 2 to 4 p.m., there will be a Round Square organized Bottle Drive in the Maddison Street Parking Lot with proceeds going to Red Cross Ukraine. Remember to bring your bottles and drop them off on Saturday. Bottle Drives are an impactful way to help the environment and keep loads of garbage from filling up landfills, as many bottles are recyclable.

For the last week of Earth Month, the Environment Club wants you to decrease your energy consumption. Classrooms around GNS will aim to keep lights and heaters off. This is an easy step towards sustainable living. Turning the lights off after you leave the room or just grabbing an extra sweater instead of heading straight for the thermostat are habits that not only help you become greener, they also help you decrease your energy bills and save more money in the long run.

To wrap Earth Month up, Friday, April 29 has been designated as the Environment Casual Day, with donations going towards an environmental charity yet to be chosen.

Jasmin Stapf ’24, a member of the Environment Club, emphasizes the importance of the little changes that GNS is trying to make.

“It is really important to raise awareness and Earth Month makes it clear that this is something you can’t overlook. Change isn’t about taking one big step. It is small incremental steps that make a difference to lasting change, especially when it comes to tackling climate change.”