Williston Northampton School students are inviting classmates and faculty—and everyone else—to take a 21-Day Sustainability Challenge for Earth Day, coming up on April 22. The Sustainability Club and the Community Service Club have joined forces on this effort, noting, “We hope that we can use this month as a time to reflect on our past behaviors, consider ways to be more sustainable, and become better global citizens.”
The challenge asks participants to take one action every day for three weeks, culminating on Earth Day. Here are the actions:
Day 1: No plastic water bottles
Day 2: Stop water from running while brushing teeth
Day 3: No plastic straws
Day 4: Recycle the right thing
Day 5: Turn off the light if we are not using
Day 6: No plastic bags
Day 7: Shorter showers
Day 8: Double-sided printing
Day 9: Meat-free day
Day 10: Post/repost Earth Day blogs
Day 11: No single-use utensils
Day 12: Donate clothes and carpets
Day 13: Don’t throw away papers, recycle them
Day 14: Dairy-free day
Day 15: No food waste (check expiration dates of food, left-over food in the fridge, and don’t let them go bad, plan it out!)
Day 16: Use ecosia for searching
Day 17: Serve small portions at the first run or save the left-over for the next meal
Day 18: Watch a documentary on the environment
Day 19: Quick shower
Day 20: No take-out food
Day 21: Check the petition website Care 2 and sign up for environmental petitions
Kate Garrity, advisor for the Community Service Club, encouraged students to take up the challenge. “Not only will this be a nice distraction from the current climate/news,” she said, “the small challenges could lead to great habits that help the earth. Every little bit counts!”