By: Kayla Leitner ’19 and Daniel Harizman ’19

April 22 marked the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement known as Earth Day. Started in the late 20th century, Earth Day recognizes the abundance of issues pertaining to the global environment. As the nationwide fight for a clean environment continues with increasing urgency, the attention Staples clubs and students devote to the issue is growing exponentially.
Staples clubs centralized around the advocacy for environmental health utilized Earth Day as a platform to raise awareness surrounding their clubs, while additionally raising their concerns and sharing the impact Staples students have on the environment.
Jane Handa ’17, a 2017 co-president of Club Green, advocates for the improvement of Staples’ ecological footprint. In months prior, the club has taken initiative through their composting program in the cafeteria, which sought to “decrease the waste [students] produce here at Staples.”
“The program has been running for about two months now and we have been really successful at running this program within the kitchen, and we produce about six to 12 gallons of compost each week,” Handa said. “This Earth Day, Club Green [helped]out with Green Day (the town wide en vironmental awareness day). The main event was held at Earthplace, with different activities for both kids and adults, with a rally for the environment included as well.”
According to the Staples High School Club Green website, “Club Green is committed to helping promote sustainability and ‘green’ living within the Staples High School and Westport community while improving the local environment and working to make a difference within the community.”
Not only did Staples students take advantage of Earth Day as an opportunity to reflect on environmental impacts of the community, Westport hosted the fifth annual Green Day on April 29. According to their website, the day was centered around “celebrating the environment and welcoming in spring.”
“Green Day has grown dramatically in just the past five short years. Most events are family oriented, and it is an excellent way to reconnect with family and friends,” the website states. “Most events are free or charge a nominal entrance fee. Come alone or with your family. Attend one event or attend all. It is really up to you but it is all about celebrating sustainability in our town.”
However, not all environmental efforts are as prominent as Green Day. Entrepreneur, Hillary O’Neill ’19, believes her small terrarium business, distributing decorative containers in which plants are grown, can allow students “to get involved with caring for plants” on a smaller scale.
“Terrariums are, in a way, a mini ecosystem. Seeing what things are necessary to keep an ecosystem thriving on a small scale can help people realize what they need to do to keep the larger one healthy,” O’Neill said.
Over the past century, the growth of greenhouse gasses and other emissions has led to a one and a half degree increase in average world temperature, according to the United State Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Science teacher and six year steward of Wakeman Town Farm, Michael Aitkenhead, believes much of the reasoning behind these environmental issues comes as a result of implicit actions residents take within Fairfield County.
“The average person in Fairfield County has among the highest ecological footprints or impacts on the environment. Not because any one of us is evil or malicious but because of the lifestyle we lead,” Aitkenhead said. “I think if more people understood the extent to which some of their lifestyle choices impact the environment, they might make better choices. But most of us are shielded from seeing or experiencing the repercussions of our decisions first hand; this makes it easy to go about our normal daily activities without much thought.”
The Earth Guardians, a newly established club at Staples, is taking an international organization’s initiative and making it a local chapter in Westport. In honor of Earth Day, they anticipated that they would participate in the Earth Guardians’ international Pledge to Plant as part of their Protect Our Future campaign by planting a Red Oak Tree.
“It is important to recognize the impact that you carry and how that affects the world around you,” Carla Paiva, Advisor of Earth Guardians Club, said. “The club tries to live each day with the intention of making the necessary changes in order to minimize our impact on the earth, water, air and atmosphere.”
Aside from those who took initiative to promote environmental change on a school-wide, even town-wide, scale, many students strive to be environmentally active within their day to day lives. Biz Fay ’19 believes Earth Day gave individuals the ability to reflect on their treatment towards the environment and hopefully create change in areas they are harming.
“Climate change is not only a dangerous global reality with devastating repercussions, it also should be the inspiration and reminder to reflect on the way one lives his or her life,” Fay said. “As humans, we hold the responsibility to nurture and protect our home. There is power lying in the individual and their capacity to make simple habitual changes.”