By Nishta Subramanian, Staff Reporter
After recognizing the need to address environmental issues in the district, members of Greening ’Stoga Task Force (GSTF) conducted an audit of BES’s environmental footprint on Feb. 11. The club oversaw its first audit on May 22, 2024 at DES where members observed and gathered information about issues in resource efficiency and pinpointed areas for reduction and reuse.
GSTF is a community-oriented club that focuses on helping the district become greener and promotes sustainability. Led by seniors Shriya Prakesh and Paulina Yang, its members want to make TESD a greener institution by conducting audits that collect data on how schools could be more environmentally friendly.
“The main goal of this (audit) is, ultimately, more of a district thing to get the schools Green Ribbon certified. It’s through this environmental organization each school has to meet a certain set of criteria, and then it can be labeled a Green Ribbon school,” Prakash said. “Our audit is a big part of (working) not only to get these schools certified and make our schools more green, but also to make this student-led.”
During last year’s audit at Devon, members collected data with help from custodians about resource usage while observing the cafeteria, bathrooms and classrooms throughout the day. Other members taught interactive and engaging lessons to elementary school students.
“We went to the third grade classes (in Devon), and we made Chia Pets with them, which was really fun,” Yang said. “We also did a game on biodiversity, where they could win little key chains that were 3D printed that said Greening ’Stoga on it. I thought that was really fun, just seeing the kids.”
Some data the club collected during the audit was about food consumption, utensils, paper towels and water supply wastage. Members gathered information about transportation used in Devon. The club presented all of these findings to the TESD strategic planning committee on Jan. 30.
“We’re going to a school board district meeting, and we’re presenting the data that we found from Devon Elementary School last year to the school board. Hopefully that’ll try to help them take some steps in what could be improved in terms of sustainability at the elementary schools and in our school community,” Yang said.
After the audit at Devon, GSTF concluded that the school has been overusing paper towels and gave suggestions regarding cutting down waste at the board meeting. The club’s audit at Beaumont reflected a similar conclusion and is another step toward the Green Ribbon designation. Prakash and Yang believe that they are taking small steps to make a significant impact on the district.
“We’re all very passionate about reducing sustainable impact, especially with the different climate changes and everything happening around us,” Prakash said. “I think it’s very fulfilling to be able to present to members of the district and have actionable, tangible changes that are being made, not just (changes) that are going to last a little bit. These are going to carry on into the future.”
Nishta Subramanian can be reached at [email protected].
