The Environmental Club at Westford Academy held a swap shop from Monday Jan. 27 to Friday Jan. 31. The swap shop was set up in the flag lobby and worked to recycle unneeded supplies to those at the school who need it.
A prevalent threat to the environment at this moment is the excess waste humans are currently generating from prematurely discarded materials. The Environmental Club proposed the idea of a swap shop with a goal of reducing waste schoolwide. This is only the first round of this project, but the plan is to do multiple rounds per school year such as at the beginning of the school year, and during midterms and final exams.
The swap shop is intended for people to leave any sort of school supplies they no longer use in a bin in the flag lobby. They could then take something from the bins if they see a school supply that they are in need of. This could range between anything from old pencils to an extra chromebook charger.
“We’re always hearing about how the schools and teachers don’t have enough supplies,” senior Environmental Club president Juliette Travassos said. “Those teachers [and students] can now take the supplies and use them, so it’s kind of like an exchange.”
Although it is described as an exchange, the swap shop is not a transactional event. Students and teachers do not have to give items to take an item. Instead, the event is more focused on getting rid of excess waste and recycling usable waste so it can be utilized by someone who still needs it.
Travassos has had this idea for quite some time, and has also been working with the Environmental Club to tailor it to fit the WA atmosphere.
“It was originally going to be more of a long standing table at the school that could just be a fixture at the school, but we realized it would probably have a bigger impact if it was more of an event,” Travassos said.
After generating their initial ideas, the Environmental Club worked with the deans at the school, as well as their club advisor, science teacher Jennifer Girardi. Through this brainstorming and troubleshooting, the Environmental Club narrowed their broader idea down to a week-long event, where what was being targeted was a specific genre of supplies.
The Environmental Club has many plans in the future for students to look forward to such as developing a green week with principal Dan Twomey, and working on the food waste problem in the cafeteria.
“Our common end goal is just to come up with a sustainable environment, and reduce waste overall,” Travassos said.
