The BSM Green Team first started in the fall of 2019 and it was originally called the sustainability club. Over the past three school years it has evolved through the leadership of students to become the Green Team.

Juniors Greta Hall and Bianca Mojica have both been members of the team since it started in 2019. Originally the team discussed worldwide climate and environmental issues. As time went on, the students decided to focus their attention on what Benilde-St. Margaret’s could do as a school and community to combat climate change on a smaller scale and help the environment in a tangible way. “Sustainability Club has evolved over time, but now it has been pretty consistent,” Mojica said.

The team meets every Tuesday after school to keep connections strong between members and discuss possibilities for future initiatives BSM could take on to make BSM a more sustainable school. Ryan Werdon, BSM’s choir teacher, is the teacher supervisor of the team. He also helps students sort their trash and compostables during all three lunches. The team has also recruited some parent volunteers to help Werdon during lunch.

During the month of May the team gathered a variety of plastic bottles that had been improperly thrown away in the trash and used them to make a banner to hang in the commons cafeteria. The members came up with the idea to make art out of trash and they strung all the bottles together at a meeting. The banner will hang in the commons until the end of the year to remind all students to recycle their plastic bottles and will help as a visual aid as to how much plastic people use.

The team also went to the Arbor Day tree planting in St. Louis Park to help renew and revive the number of trees in urban areas. The Green Team joined with members from RKVC (Red Knights Volunteer Corps) to celebrate Arbor Day in a sustainable way.

The Green Team also organized the school-wide initiative for Ecosia, a search engine that donates money in order to plant trees around the world, to be added to all student laptops. The team made a video for all students to watch during homeroom and put up posters throughout the hallways to advertise Ecosia.

The green team has helped Benilde-St. Margaret’s implement more sustainable practices and has encouraged all students to take an active part in helping the environment. “Our members are very dedicated and they actually participate in our committee which is really funny. So it kind of feels like everyone is just like a big group of friends,” Hall said.