Earth Day Interview
The following is an interview conducted with the organizer of the Earth Events at HHS, Jeannie Kornfeld.
PUTNAM: So, what exactly is Earth day?
KORNFELD: Earth Day at HHS is an opportunity for students to celebrate our planets beauty and appreciate the goods and services our ecosystems provide for our survival. The field trips, workshops, and guest speaker allow students to better understand the impact humans have on the ecosystems that support us. Workshops like the field trip to Cricenti Bog and Birding show us the beauty of nature and teach us some natural history as well. And why do we celebrate it/the importance? People are often disconnected from nature. Our obsession with the latest technological gadgets keeps our eyes focused on computer screens rather than what is happening in our forests, streams and fields. Earth Day is an opportunity to reconnect with nature.
PUTNAM: If you were to give the Hanover community a grade for its participation in eco-friendly activities, what would that grade be?
KORNFELD: Not sure I could, or would want to assign a grade but the Hanover community offers many eco-friendly activities such as nature camps for children, bird watching, hikes with organizations like the Sierra Club, public lectures at Dartmouth, and many other activities that increase our awareness of the state of the planet.
PUTNAM: How did you get involved with Earth day?
KORNFELD: Earth Day was started several years ago by students in the Environmental Club and has evolved to include all the activities we offer today. Earth Day is run three years in a row and then the fourth year is Trash on the Lawn Day in which we take one days’ worth of trash, recyclables and compost and dump it on a tarp on the front lawn to provide students with a visual of how much trash we generate in one day. Students weigh the separated materials before being placed on the lawn and then science classes come to the front lawn throughout the day to separate recyclable material from the trash so we can calculate by mass the percentage of trash that should have been recycled. This way everyone has an opportunity in the four years they are at HHS to see Trash on the Lawn Day and participate in Earth Day activities for three years.
PUTNAM: Earth day is only one day out of many. What can we do as a school on those other days that we aren’t doing now?
KORNFELD: Well, I think we need to improve our behavior in several ways. For example, we still have a lot of room for improvement with respect to the trash we generate. Our latest statistics from 2012 Trash on the Lawn Day showed that we generated about 270 lbs of trash in one day, 38% of this was recycled but about 30% more should have been recycled and ended up in a trash can. We are only composting about 25% of our organic waste. There are a lot of cars with only one person coming to HHS each day, so we need to look at ways to improve transportation. I would also like to see improvements made to the school building that will make it more energy efficient. The good news is that we have decreased the number of Coop bags coming on campus from 800 a week down to about 30 a week. We also have a lot of students volunteering to manage compost buckets throughout the school to reduce the amount of organic waste ending up in landfills.
PUTNAM: What gives you hope for the future in regards to our environment?
KORNFELD: The current generation of high school and college age students. When I started teaching environmental science twelve years ago there were few colleges that offered degrees in the field. Now it’s hard to find a college that doesn’t offer an environmental science program. I am so impressed with my students every day. I appreciate their thoughtful contributions in class, willingness to work hard to get themselves informed and desire to make a difference in the world. They are what give me the greatest hope.
Below are some of this year’s Earth Day moments captured on camera
