Environmental Club sponsors America Recycles activities
Posted on Nov 25, 2007
“America Recycles” is celebrated each November across the United States as a counterbalance to Earth Day, which is observed in April each year. At Lauralton Hall, the Environmental Club sponsors a trash-free-lunch activity with raffle prizes because the club wishes to encourage the Three R’s - reducing, reusing, and recycling.
The fifth annual trash-free lunch marathon kicked off with the Jaws sound track pulsating over the PA system during morning announcements. As the music swelled to a crescendo, Carly Lind, ’07, Vice President of the Environmental Club screamed melodramatically into the mike, and then Kelley Leen, ’07 enthusiastically announced, “Just when you thought it was safe to go to the cafeteria, TRASH-FREE LUNCH IS BACK!”
During the three days of trash-free lunch, students with trash-free lunches entered a drawing for raffle prizes. Trash-free lunches are contained in permanent, reusable lunch bags or permanent containers such as Rubbermaid and Tupperware, instead of paper bags, Zip-lock bags or foil. In order to participate, students could not use order plastic forks or paper napkins. Students could also get raffle tickets if they had permanent water bottles.
Club members decided that all of the prizes that they donated should either be eco-friendly or have an environmental message. Prizes included Burt’s Bees samplers donated by Caroline Belger, ’10; Caitlin McCarthy, ’11; Sam Roberge, ’10; and Anna Zawislak, ’11. Organic treats were donated by Jen Amidon, ’10; Maureen Cashman, ’10; Olivia Lopata, ’10; Marissa Lucchesi, ’11; Maggie Mellot, ’11; Kate Siroky, ’11; and Grace Wilson, ’11.
There were even reusable shopping bags filled to the brim with fantastic organic goodies donated by Emily Devaney, ’11 and Jackie Fickes, ’11, as well as baskets of organic treats donated by Kelley Leen, ’08 and Mary-Megan Marshall, ’08.
Fashion as well as food was prevalent on the prize table. Elise Kapitenek, ’10 donated two organic cotton tee shirts with environmental messages, and Stephanie Simko, ’11 donated an “I Recycle” tee shirt. Olivia D’Atri, ’10 handcrafted two beautiful pendants from bottle caps. “I didn’t want the bottle caps to go to waste; I also used old magazines and other things lying around to make the necklaces,” Olivia said.
In addition to fashion, facts were offered up for prizes: Andrea Borjas, ’10 donated An Inconvenient Truth and Bri Perez, ’10 donated a daily calendar with environmental tips entitled Do Just One Thing. Emma Molloy, ’10 donated earth-friendly cleaning products, and Lucy Moye, ’11 donated a travel mug for those on the go. Due to the generosity of club members there were 40 raffle prizes this year • a new record for the club.
The prize table helped motivate students to go trash free. “I was happy and surprised when I saw how many people participated,” said Emma Molloy ’10. Catey Condit felt “It’s a great way to get people involved.”
The entire point of the trash-free lunch marathon is to get students to think about the choices they make everyday: a reusable container or a throw-away paper bag; a permanent napkin or a paper napkin. “Americans use an average of 2,200 paper napkins per person per year. If people just realized how much water and energy are needed to make paper, they would gladly use fewer napkins,” said Donna DiMassa, club moderator. Bri Perez, ’10 put it nicely when she said, “Lunch should be trash-free all the time.”