TJ Students Can Be The Change

This spring the  TJ High School Environmental Club is raising money for future generations of the club by selling wildflower seeds and hosting a flea market. These events will be accompanied by a spirit week taking place from April 11-14th to raise awareness for the two fundraisers.  

The wildflowers being sold are flowers that grow naturally in the northeastern United States. Selling flowers native to the region is important to the club because planting flowers that are not natural to the area can create an imbalance in what is called a biome. A biome refers to a specific ecosystem, in which an invasive species could throw off. These flowers allow for the local bees to have a variety of flower breeds to pollinate. This diversity allows for the bee population to grow and thrive. 

The sale of these wildflowers is going to allow future generations of the club to have seed money to fundraise for bigger projects and to support classes and clubs around the school in their endeavors. 

The first day of the spirit week students will be asked to participate in meatless Monday. Beef has one of the largest carbon footprints out of any food product. Meat and dairy make up about 14.5% of global emissions, this is about half of the emissions produced in food manufacturing (Dunne, Daisy. “Interactive: What Is the Climate Impact of Eating Meat and Dairy?”CarbonBrief,14 Sept.2020 ). By participating in this spirit day the club hopes to encourage students to continue the habit and reduce meat consumption. 

On Tuesday Students will be asked to wear tie dye as a way of showing their hippie pride and excitement about the environment.  Wednesday students are encouraged to bring in a reusable water bottle. Plastic water bottles make up about 2 million tons of waste in landfills (“Plastic Water Bottle Pollution: Where Do All the Bottles End up?” Plastic Water Bottle Pollution: Where Do All The Bottles End Up? – Healthy Human, 2022,)

This is the club’s effort to raise awareness of how simple the habit of drinking from a reusable water bottle can be and in turn show them how much of a change they can make in such an accessible way. Students who participate, may have the opportunity to have a picture of themselves with their water bottles posted on the Be The Change Instagram page. 

Thursday will be a day for students to wear their favorite thrifted outfits. The clothing industry creates over 92 million tons of water waste per year (“Textile & Fashion Waste Statistics: Facts about Clothing in Landfills.” Eco Friendly Habits, 25 Mar. 2022,). Thrifting allows for consumers to prevent the production cycles that create the pollution at an affordable price. Be The Change hopes to encourage students to continue wearing second hand clothing and to educate students on how to thrift ethically. 

Friday will finish off the week with the flea market the club is holding. The flea market is an opportunity for students to give their old possessions a new life with a new person. Students will be asked to pay a fee (price TBD) in exchange for an allotted space where they can set up a booth to sell items of their choosing. 

As the club raises awareness for the flower sale throughout the week, they also hope to show the student body the simple changes that can be made to better the planet.