By Brody Bosworth, Student Writer

Over the past century, humans and our industries have caused the average global temperature to rise 1.5OF, produced over twenty gigatons of waste, and put 1,600 gigatons of CO2 into the atmosphere. 

Unfortunately, attempts to resolve these problems have been largely ignored and even dismantled by the current governments of many countries with high production rates, such as China, India, Russia, Japan, and the United States, according to www.ourworldindata.org. 

However, the children of today are stepping up against climate change and the high amounts of waste produced. Ashland’s own Kelli Danehy and Riya Dubey are perfect examples of leaders in the movement, for they are the co-presidents of Ashland’s Environmental Action Club, also known as EAC. 

EAC is a group of students who meet every Monday to empty the recycling bins in the school’s dozens of classrooms. 

Riya Dubey, co-president of EAC, says the club is “focused on making our school and community greener and more environmentally friendly.” 

To draw attention to their goals, EAC organizes projects and activities, such as its current project, a bottle cap mural. To make this mural, they first had to collect the hundreds of recycled bottle caps they needed and sort them by color. They have acquired a four-foot-by-eight-foot bulletin board, so in these up-and-coming weeks, be on the lookout for their art. 

Their upcoming project, planned for after they finish the mural, is to paint the stormwater drains outside the school parking lots. Kelli Danehy, the second co-president of EAC, says this project is meant to “spread awareness about wastewater pollution, and also to remind ourselves to keep our community and its water clean.” 

Unfortunately, there are always setbacks in plans; they had originally planned to paint the drains in the fall, but the weather wouldn’t allow for the paint to dry quickly enough, so they postponed it to this spring. However, they say they are “very excited to get painting once it warms up!”

Even though only high schoolers can join the club, you can still help the environment in many ways. 

According to the co-presidents, a lot of people believe that in order to make a difference in their ecological footprint, they need to make big changes in their lives, but “this is simply a misconception, as there are many small things you can do at home that make a difference”, says Danehy. Driving electric cars, going zero-waste, and investing in solar are all great, but not everyone has the ability to do those things, so the co-presidents have come up with a few things the average person can do at home: 

One, be mindful of your trash, especially when you're in school. For high schoolers, EAC has placed signs above every recycling bin at school that list what you can and cannot recycle. However, these rules apply to recycling at home and at work as well. If you're unsure, you can always look up Ashland's recycling policy on the Town of Ashland website. The high school alone produces a large amount of waste from just plastic and one-use water bottles, so bringing a reusable one to school or work and refilling at the multitude of water fountains is a simple way to reduce waste.

Two, be mindful of your water usage. Fresh water is a limited resource; however, simply turning off your faucets when you're not directly using them or taking shorter showers can drastically reduce your water usage. 

Three: avoid throwing out food if it can be stored and reheated later, or even try composting and growing fresh veggies! 

It’s amazing how much of a difference a few small changes can make in one’s ecological and carbon footprint, and with the average temperature set to rise another 3.6OF by 2050, any small change can help. So do your part: reduce, reuse, and, most importantly, recycle!