Earth Day goes all year for members of South Delta Secondary's Green Team.
Like other schools across the district, SDSS participated in a variety of activities Tuesday to commemorate Earth Day, including the Lights Out Canada Challenge that had students and staff turn off lights and keep them off.
The Green Team also began planting various vegetables in pots that students will nurture and take home.
The group, though, is constantly at work, hoping to educate other students about the benefits of thinking green The team, for example, collects recyclable bottles and cans throughout school, putting them in one of three sorting stations it purchased. A local collection depot comes by once a week to get the bottles and cans, money that goes toward green projects at the Tsawwassen high school.
One of those is a water bottle refilling station, which has a counter indicating it's been used 121,000 times. The money has also been used to purchase composters.
The Green Team, however, is about more than just projects around the school. Its goal is to educate students about actions they can take at home and elsewhere.
Grade 8 Green Team member Malika Carper said the reason she joined was simple: she likes the Earth.
Carper said that while there's greater awareness of global environmental concerns among young people, and greater involvement in initiatives, many for whatever reason choose not to get involved. That's why the Green Team can be a good education tool, she said.
Fellow team member Jasmine Crump, who's in Grade 12, agreed, saying she originally became interested and joined in Grade 11 because she liked the idea of planting a garden at the school.
"The message is it's important to be aware that there are issues, because we could easily go about our lives ignorant of everything around us, it's so easy to do," she said. "I find myself sometimes doing it, but you have to stop and realize and look around to see what you're killing or not killing."
Suzan Olsen, a teacher coordinator for the Green Team, said she hopes to have the students take on some controversial environmental issues close to home.
"I've suggested we can get more active opposing the (radio transmission) towers that they want to put in Point Roberts. It's issues like that and you don't have to look very far in your backyard for environmental issues. There's a ton of stuff going on in Delta," she said.
Also on the team is teacher Bobby McDowell, who several years ago walked across Canada with a friend, filming a documentary of his remarkable journey. He agreed there are plenty of local issues students can focus on to make a difference.
