By Deborah Lambert | Observer Reporter
Hannah Peckham, member of the Green Society Club at Mount Wachusett Community College, said, “The club is concerned about environmental issues such as conservation, forestry, and horticulture.”
Recently, the club made bird treats to sell at the Northeast Organic Farmers Association (NOVA) Winter Fair. “All products made and sold by the Green Society are environmentally friendly,” said Peckham. “The club members are advocates for a sustainable lifestyle. There are roughly about 15 active members at this time.”
The club participates in several different categories of activities said Professor Tom Montagno, advisor to the club that was formed in the spring of 2002. “We do community service by volunteering at the Garlic and Arts Festival each year, primarily helping attendees properly dispose of their recyclable trash,” said Montagno. “The club also volunteers at the Red Apple Farm Harvest Festival by running two of the X-Games, hay bale tossing, and cord wood stacking contests.”
Another area of activity is fundraising by selling plants and, in the recent past, CFL light bulbs. “We have guest speakers come in from time to time to talk to members and we sponsor appreciation dinners each semester for the active club members who graciously give up their time for these various activities,” said Montagno.
Montagno said the club raises funds by selling plants a couple times a year. The plants are grown by the various Natural Resource Development (NRD) classes, such as Horticulture and Greenhouse Management. Montagno said since they grow the plants themselves, they are able to keep prices reasonable and make a decent profit. For the past 3 years the club has also sold CFL and LED bulbs which they purchase and then slightly mark up, still only charging $1 each for the CFL bulbs.
Montagno explained that with the money raised, they purchase their members T-shirts that they have designed. They also attend various field trips and conferences, donating money to food drives here at the Mount, too. “But we save a majority of the money we raise,” said Montagno. “We are saving money so that we can start a self-sustaining scholarship or two that might help NRD students purchase books.”
The club will be involved in encouraging the college community to take advantage of the new single-stream recycling that has just started on campus. Liz Falcon, MWCC student, said that she was excited to see the newly displayed recycling bins around the campus. Falcon said, “I like to do what I can for the environment and the recycle bins should make it easy for everyone to do their small share.” The multi-purpose recycle bins make it convenient because cardboard does not have to be separated from plastic or aluminum; it all goes into the same trash bin.
“The Green Society is a fun, dedicated, hard-working group of students,” said Montagno. “Membership is open to anybody, not just NRD majors. We welcome anyone who is interested in learning about and helping to educate others on various environmental topics, such as global warming, energy conservation, alternative energy, recycling, gardening, composting, and invasive species, just to name a few.”
The club meets every Wednesday during community hour, 12:30-1:30 p.m., in the greenhouse to discuss upcoming events.
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