Katie Seithel (11) wrote a story in her journalism class her sophomore year about how OHS was dealing with environmental issues within the school.

“I quickly realized we did have some areas where we could improve,” Seithel said. “I figured it would be up to us to make that happen.”

That is what drove Seithel to jump start the Environmental Club with a group of friends — Mac Cooper (11), Isabella Thebeau (11), and others — late last school year.

“I love it,” Thebeau said. “It’s easier to do something with a group of people than on your own.”

The first meeting of this school year was on Wednesday, Sept. 3. The club will meet once a month for the rest of the year in Room 318 with John (JP) Kretschmer, the club’s sponsor.

“To raise awareness about the environment is very important for me to do for the kids, as they will be inheriting the planet,” Kretschmer said. “I hope to have kids actually care about recycling, pollution, and so on and want to make a change.”

The club has been trying to start a fundraiser to donate money to a charity to help the environment, or perhaps back into the club so they can do more things around OHS.

“I think it’s great,” Cooper said. “We’re like a community, a family of environment helpers.” 

The club noticed that the cafeteria did not have any recycling bins, so students do not really walk around to find one and instead throw everything away in the regular trash cans. More recycling bins have recently been added to the area.

“Getting the ball rolling this year is kind of slow,” said club member Damon Deemie (12), “but we’re hoping to see progress with making Oakville greener.”