By Anusha Trivedi ‘23

During the week of April 17, Notre Dame’s Clean and Green club held several events and activities to celebrate Earth Week. On Tuesday, they handed out free Clean and Green club stickers designed by Isabelle ’25 and Safiya ’25 that people could wear as a pledge to reduce food waste. Students made their own succulent centerpieces with upcycled jars at the 3rd Street Cafe during lunch. Officers then held a raffle where four winners won a succulent prize, along with its watering and sunlight instructions. Wednesday, the school community was invited to wear green tops with free dress bottoms to show their spirit and support. At the club meeting, students  learned about fashion upcycling and thrifting from FabMo, a local creative reuse nonprofit. Finally, Friday was Clean and Green club’s school-wide clean up day. Students and faculty were encouraged to drop off their e-waste in Pardini for proper disposal. Items like laptops, chargers, phones, batteries, cameras, microwaves, CDs and anything electric were accepted, and those who dropped off their waste were given chocolate and fruit bars for participating.

 The president of Clean and Green club, Madison ’23, shared her aims for the week: “At Notre Dame, we wanted to use our creativity to protect the Earth by celebrating Earth Week! One of our goals was to raise awareness, as that is the first step of making an impact, by creating a sticker to pledge to reduce food waste.” She emphasized that their most important objective was to engage the school community through activities advocating for environmental sustainability. “We hosted some fun events, from making succulent centerpieces from recycled yogurt jars, to learning about textile waste and creative reuse, to helping clean up campus and conduct e-waste recycling,” she said. “These small contributions make a difference, and we certainly made a difference at Notre Dame during Earth Week!”