This school year, Ms. Beth Nave has strong ambitions for Oakdale to ‘Go Green.’ The club she is advising, Students for Environmental Action, will create a better future for our environment by doing various projects around the school.

Students that join the club will be able to participate in sustainability projects to help our school waste less and reuse more. These projects will be indoor and outdoor activities during club time to reach the ultimate goal of Oakdale becoming a green-accredited school. 

According to The Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education, green schools need to use reduce school waste, recycle, increase riparian buffer zones, and have sustainable community practices. Over time, there is a belief that these things will be completed.

Students will learn about, “how to live a more sustainable life and how they can help with respecting the Earth’s resources,” according to Ms. Nave. She believes students should have a respect for their environment, and should want to make it a better and healthier place for the future. Students don’t have to own a metal straw to join, but it definitely helps to have a passion for helping the environment.

Ms. Nave plans that Students for Environmental Action will blow last year’s Environmental Club out of the water. Last year, the club tried to take on too much at a time, so this year they are determined for it to succeed for the sake of our environment. 

This year, Ms. Nave plans to do pieces of projects at a time for more efficiency. This will make the club much more manageable to run, and possibly cultivate the success of the club for years to come. Sophomore, Alli Stup was in last year’s club, and says she is very hopeful for Students for Environmental Action to succeed this year. 

Not only will the students of the club improve the school themselves, but they will also make other students more aware of what they can do to participate in the movement for a greener school. 

For example, Ms. Nave has been putting out sustainability announcements about what can be recycled and what can’t. There are now informational signs by the recycling bins around the school, so students can be sure that what they’re throwing away can’t be recycled, and vice versa. The plan is to cut down on trash being thrown in the recycling. If one piece of trash is thrown in the recycling, the whole bag must be put in the trash.  Putting up these signs should prevent people from doing this and cut down on that waste

This is just one of many future changes that Students For Environmental Action is doing to make a change for the better in our school. “It can make a world of difference with one more [club member]” comments Stup. Contact Ms. Nave if you’re interested in joining Students for Environmental Action to do your part in helping the environment.