The Sustainability Club was started a few years ago by Michael McDonald and some of his fellow peers. This club helps BSM and surrounding communities become more environmentally friendly.
Sustainability Club gives students who want to make the school and community more sustainable a place to meet, and allows them to pursue that passion in a school setting. “We do various projects around the school. For instance, we started using Ecosia, which is a search engine that plants trees. We partnered with them. We plant trees around campus. We do cleanups around campus,” President of Sustainability Club Michael McDonald, said.
McDonald has big plans for this year. He talks about how the objective of the club is not only to make a positive impact on our BSM community, but to also expand his ideas into the communities that surround BSM. “This year, we’re looking to expand into the surrounding community. Whether that’s dealing with food, waste, or recycling initiatives,” McDonald said.
This year, we’re looking to expand into the surrounding community. Whether that’s dealing with food, waste, or recycling initiatives
— Michael McDonald
The club had to deal with finding a new staff advisor this year because the prior advisor left Benilde-St. Margarets in search of other opportunities. They quickly found Nathan Schlepp, who teaches in the theology department at BSM. “I think that so far the students that are in the club seem really interested and passionate in the topic, and they’re all really kind and friendly,” Schlepp said.
Prior to McDonald starting the Sustainability club, BSM’s sustainability had gone downhill. BSM had a club that shared a lot of similarities to the Sustainability Club, but had stopped running in years prior. This inspired McDonald to take initiative and start the new club with some other BSM students. But overall, McDonald’s passion for the environment was his main purpose in starting the club.
McDonald will be graduating this spring, but he is confident in the club and its future at BSM. He also has had conversations with Schlepp, and they are on the same page for keeping the club active. “Mr. Schlepp said he wants to keep it going, which is great to see. And then, we’ve got quite a few seniors, and I’d say less underclassmen, so it’s pretty senior heavy this year. But there’s enough interest, and there are people that are passionate about it and willing and capable of leadership that will be able to pass it on to them, and I think, keep it going for the foreseeable future,” McDonald said.