The key to helping the environment

BY LILY KELLY and KADEN BUCHALTER

            OBHS Key Club’s growing community focuses on making a positive impact through recycling opportunities and raising money for various charities. “Key Club is currently working on contributing to the Key Club District Steering Project which focuses on ‘Keeping the Garden State Green’,” Ms. Bennett conveyed. The District Steering project this year is sponsored by NexTrex.

            Nextrex, one of the Key Club service partners, is collecting soft plastic waste. “Students interested in donating plastic can find drop off boxes at reception in the main building,” explained Rishabh Jain.

            Items being collected include grocery bags, bread bags, bubble wrap, dry cleaning bags, newspapers, etc. “The soft plastics we collect both prevent it from going to landfills and also are repurposed by NexTrex into things like patio decking,” said Roxanne Pascual.

            The school that donates the most plastic will win a contest, and students who participate can earn service hours. For every 5 items of trash donated, students will receive 1 hour of community service. Pascual explained, “Last year we were able to collect over 30lb in two weeks, and we’re hoping to overcome that this year!”

            Key club has also collaborated with Student Senate during Bingo Nights to sell snacks and raise money for various charities, collected toys for tots, donated food with OBHS Fights Hunger, and worked on nationwide children’s hospital cards.

            Roxanne Pascual voiced, “In the next few months we’re planning to run our Ocean Hero event.” The Ocean Hero event will involve promoting a search engine, Ocean Hero. For every five searches, the company will remove one plastic bottle from the ocean. “While our difference might be small in the large scale of things, plastic collection sets forth the principle that recycling is important and brings awareness,” Jain said.

            The club has more plans for the rest of the year. Jain said, “The rest of the year will be focused on mindfulness presentations, officer elections, officer training, and a garden cleanup.”

            Key Club will meet tomorrow, Tuesday, March 29 to discuss future plans and electing officers for next school year. If you are interested in learning more about the Key Clubs commitment to helping environment, then check them out on their website: https://keyclubobhs.weebly.com/works.html

Posted on 3/28/22

Photos by Lily Kelly