By ACE Ambassador and Co-President, Eliza Stein, Student at Denver School of Science and Technology.

The picture on the left shows a member of The Denver School of Science and Technology’s action team, Go Green, sharing with students at our school the statistics about plastic water bottles and how they affect the environment. Many of these students had never thought about how their daily routine, which includes bringing a different disposable water bottle to school every day, can have such a large impact on the world they live in.

Students were shocked to find that 2.7 million tons of plastic go into the production of plastic water bottles each year, and that 66 million water bottles are thrown away every day. However, most shocking is the reality that tap water is both a cheaper and healthier alternative.

Throughout their lunch period, curious high schoolers collected around the

station set up by Go Green to learn about ways they can help reduce waste and to, of course, fill up their own reusable water bottles with lemonade supplied by the club.

Many stayed for their entire lunch period to ask questions. And when Go Green didn’t know the answer, we gathered around a team member’s laptop to do some research.

Go Green did small projects earlier in the year, including a no paper DOT campaign where students’ and teachers’ DOTs were painted on the school windows. Yet, this is the first time since the ACE presentation last fall that students began to came together in an attempt to learn more about how they can change the world. The word is out—going green is becoming more popular, and students are looking for ways that they can help make a difference.

Next year, we hope to continue with the success of this project by providing Denver School of Science and Technology reusable water bottles so that students can kick their bottle habit all year!