by Jacquelyn Duong, ACE Field Correspondent and student at Rosemead High School in Rosemead, CA

As an effort to spread environmental consciousness, the Ecology Club at Rosemead High School hosted an Eco Awareness Week. Each day focused on a different issue. Even those who aren’t in the Action Team were eligible to participate in our event! Despite some difficulties during the week, students persevered and proved themselves to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Monday, April 18th was dedicated to paper waste, one of the most problematic issues in today’s world. We placed stickers on all the paper towel dispensers in the bathrooms on campus (at left Ecology Board member Howard Luu shows off one of our stickers on the back of his phone). These stickers caused students to become aware of how much they were actually using, thus promoting the conservation of paper towels – each sticker can save up to 100lbs of paper a year!

The issue for Tuesday, April 19th  was plastic conservation. Each person who gave the Eco officers a plastic bottle would be entered in a raffle. The prizes were 4 BPA-free reusable bottles. We managed to fill about an entire bin with plastic bottles! The lucky winners were chosen at the following general meeting.

The most successful day was Wednesday, April 20th which focused on transportation. Students who walked to school that morning received a ticket to be entered in a raffle for a $10 gift card to In-N-Out. You can host your own Walk and Roll day by following ACE’s simple project plan.

Thursday, April 21st focused on waste that students generate at lunch. Rosemead High and many other schools generally serve food on styrofoam plates. Each student who brought his or her own lunch in a reusable case received a free cookie. We had 17 people make the effort to  participate in this event even though school lunches are more convenient.

On Friday, April 22nd, we had a teacher/student free day, thus saving paper and gas!!!