On the morning of April 20, the Westridge campus was alive with vibrant rose bushes, leaves glinting under the sunlight. It was the beginning of Earth Week, an annual celebration of environmental awareness observed across the globe. In honor of the occasion, Westridge’s environmental sustainability group The Green Guerillas hosted activities with support from the service representatives to raise student awareness and sustainability efforts. From April 20 to April 23, students participated in lunchtime events ranging from watching nature-themed movies to thrifting clothes. 

Students began the Earth Week festivities on Monday with trash sorting outside the Commons to win a donut after successfully sorting the items. Students were given a variety of trash pieces and sorted the items into compost, landfill, and recycling boxes to raise awareness about which items are recyclable and which are not. Ms. Erica St. John, the Service and Community Engagement Coordinator, helped out with the trash sorting game and commented on the lack of student awareness around sorting their garbage. “Despite there being signs on most of the sorting stations around here and educational efforts, it’s still really a struggle. I’m glad a lot of people came to play, and hopefully those people learned something,” she said.  

On the choice of activities, Larkin M. ’27, co-Sustainability Chair and co-head of The Green Guerillas, said, “Earth Week means celebrating our sustainability and celebrating what we as a campus can do to make our Earth better. I

feel like it’s really about honoring the earth, so our ability to do that with activities is really fun.” She noted that they tried to incentivize activities more, through prizes like donuts and engaging movies, to increase student participation. With each action dedicated to environmental awareness, students showed their appreciation for the Earth and their interest in learning about how they can change their routines, starting as small as recycling more, to benefit the environment. “It is important to admire the world we live in and focus on making sure it can be around for as long as possible for everyone to enjoy,” said Irene A. ’26, a senior who participated in the clothing swap. 

On Tuesday, students planted seeds for vegetables and fruits, including melons and tomatoes, in small pots to take home. With the planted seeds, students can promote biodiversity, starting sustainability efforts in their own backyards. However, Ms. St. John observed that many students planted seeds, but left them at school. 

Students then cozied up in the Community Room to watch The Lorax during lunch on Wednesday with popcorn, candy, and cookies. Larkin said that they chose The Lorax as opposed to a nature documentary to engage more students, a goal that the Green Guerrillas have been trying to embody this year. 

Earth Week concluded on Thursday with the highly

anticipated clothing swap, where students donate clothes and, in exchange, take home clothes from other students. As the culmination of Earth Week, the swap served as a space to embrace community efforts as students eagerly scanned piles of clothes with their friends and proudly showed each other their favorite finds. As opposed to throwing away old clothes, thrifting gives each piece of clothing a new life, therefore reducing waste. Amelia W. ’29 said, “It is really important because we as a community can be more environmentally conscious together.”

Irene A. ’26 has attended the clothing swap almost every year. “The clothing swap is a good practice to give something you don’t use to someone else and get something someone else doesn’t use, and boom, saving the planet,” said Irene with a smile.  

As a time to reflect on Westridge’s sustainability efforts, appreciate Earth’s small beauties, and look forward to changes we can make to support the environment, Earth Week is a beloved tradition on campus. Olivia M. ’29 called Earth Week a “wakeup call” for the community. “It’s time to acknowledge that we need to start taking better care of our planet and we should be doing it year-round,” she said. “But having a specific holiday helps people kind of wake up and realize and start better habits like composting more. Every day should be Earth Week.” 

Similarly, Ms. St. John reflected on how Westridge as a community can extend beyond Earth Week, including by articulating environment-specific goals. She said, “As a school, we need to come up with [sustainability goals], and we need the school leaders to get passionate about it.” Though Earth Week is over, sustainability efforts at Westridge have a long way to go—Earth Week is only the beginning.