As they drive their arms up with signs in their hands, they feel the ground move underneath them when they march. Hands stroking paint onto posters and raising them high in the air. Every day they are ready to make a change, with the number of supporters only growing larger. These are some of the activities that members of Bonita Vista High’s (BVH) Green Team experience.

Green Team, a club majoring in civic engagement, finds ways to continue to inspire the community to take action against public concerns. Green Team works with various non-profit organizations such as San Diego 350. As stated on their website, San Diego 350 is doing a movement to prevent the impacts of climate change and injustice through education, public media and encouraging people to take action. They also participate in climate strikes, as well as board meetings with the Sweetwater Union High School District.

“In 2019, when we did the climate strike, we received a lot of support and I think that helped a lot with just seeing how much new support was out there, especially at Bonita,” Green Team Vice President and junior Maya Loughney said.

Green Team goes on many walkouts and protests to have their voices heard and to inform  people on the countless issues humans need to solve so there will be a healthy future for the planet.

“We promote political activism on campus, as well as endangered species to support our garden and to educate more students about these important topics,” Green Team President and senior Bibi Martinez said.

While the Green Team attends many events, they host on-campus activities as well; most recently, the club organized Fast Fashion, an eco-friendly thrift shop. Fast Fashion held on September 16 in BVH at room 402, encouraged clothing items to not be wasted, but instead to be contributed into the community. A fight against climate justice was made as fast fashion and the fashion industry are major polluters in today’s world, according to Green Team Advisor Jennifer Ekstein.

“[We wanted] to really conserve the message that fast fashion is actually a very evil endeavor currently going on in this planet,” Ekstein said. 

Students were able to pick and purchase clothing items or jewelry that were placed on various lab tables by Green Team. Over 50 students attended the event and the Green Team members were able to do some thrifting as well when the event was over. Loughney described that the event ended on a very successful note. Green Team received a lot of support and was able to sell quite a few clothing items, as well as jewelry. They raised over 200 dollars and the money went towards Green Team’s Butterfly Garden.

On Wednesdays, the Green Team members go out to their garden and maintain the many plants and living organisms inhabiting the garden space. With the money, Green Team plans to buy native plants for the garden and also for the little planters they have placed outside of the 400s building.

“Our big thing, of course, is to increase milkweed, which is a target plant for our monarchs,” Ekstein said. “[Monarchs] have had huge declines in their populations, so we are trying to protect that species.”

Green Team continues to express their concerns regarding the earth’s environment and constantly emphasizes that students’ involvement are significantly important in contributing to a positive impact on their community. By gaining a larger audience and persistent supporters, Green Team can progress and carry on with their journey of using their voice to benefit the planet.

“We are continuing to spread news [about the environment] and educate, specifically here on campus. [We aim] to continue educating and empowering [the] youth’s voices [in an effort] to act on the environmental movement,” Loughney said.