Throughout the 2021-22 school year, Benilde-St. Margaret’s Sustainability Club has worked through many projects. The club has made progress in many areas in its second year.

So far this year, the Sustainability Club has worked on the Ecosia search engine, a phone drive, and encouraged people to stop idling in their vehicles before school. Another major project from the Sustainability Club is the upgraded compost station. Now, at every lunch, there is a club member stationed at the trash bins to help students sort properly. This is important to Werdon because he believes composting is even more important than recycling. According to Werdon, recycling is crucial, but composting is necessary for reducing waste, enriching soil, and reducing the amount of water needed to hydrate it. “For every piece of food that you put in the compost, it is without a doubt directly reducing the amount of methane coming from the landfill,” Werdon said.

Werdon is glad to see that our school is showing increasing awareness. However, he is hoping to see more interest in action based activity. “It’s good to raise awareness, but in the end you really have to take action. I think that’s what we need most in our world, people who take action. Otherwise, nothing ever is going to change,” Werdon said.

Werdon says he is always thinking of ways to improve BSM’s green footprint. Looking forward, the club has contacted a speaker to come in and discuss ways they are positively impacting the environment. They are also considering a movie night with an educational documentary open to all students. Lastly, the club has made plans to show off their work on recycle-made structures during Earth Week. They hope this week will unite the BSM community and encourage them to fight environmental issues together. McDonald agrees that collective action is key moving into the future. “I want to spread awareness about these different issues, both within the club and the larger student body. But, I think that’s not as important as taking actual action,” McDonald said.