It is finally lunch time and students rush to room 26 to unwind from the tension of school. They chatter, theirs pens glide on posters, and brains tune into the issue of climate change. To the lively students in the room, it is common knowledge that, unless drastic actions are taken, the rising levels of greenhouse gases will undoubtedly disrupt the fragile balance that makes our planet habitable. The students in PHS Green Club are taking matters into their own hands, one step at a time.

“The primary mission of the Green Club is to make PHS more green,” co-president and senior Ellington Davis said.

With a membership of approximately 40 students, Green Club meets weekly at lunch on Mondays. Davis said the students are passionate about a cleaner environment and recognize that the student body at PHS has the ability to take small changes that can collectively make a huge impact.

“I noticed that the current government is not doing too much about climate change, and to me that was really scary, especially with reports coming out saying that our world will not be habitable at some point,” co-president and senior Avery Kokka said.

Green Club’s goals are to execute on action-based initiatives to reduce the carbon footprint, protect the community from the impacts of climate change, and plan to lead the community on a coordinated assault on a changing climate, Kokka said.

“One of our plastic reduction initiatives that we are working on right now involves figuring out where we can place compost, recycling, and trash bins on our campus,” Kokka said.

Kokka and Davis said Green Club is also working with the school administration to find ways to reduce the use of plastic materials in the cafeteria. To do this, Green Club has proposed the idea of a Meatless Mondays initiative, which would remove the chicken from the teriyaki bowls and caesar salad.

“We are not going to change the industry by removing chicken from the teriyaki bowls, but we would still be cutting down a lot of meat and saving money,” Kokka said. “It would still be making an impact, though it’s small in the grand scheme of things.”

Members of Green Club, including sophomore Molly McWeeny, focus on exchanging animal meat with Impossible Burgers or other meat-flavored vegan alternatives in the cafeteria in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock.

“I think the [Impossible Burger] is a really good way to help save the environment because livestock releases a lot of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,” McWeeny said.

Other Green Club initiatives include giving out reusable water bottles and straws at the Winter Fair, where students can advertise their clubs during lunch.

“It’s these small changes one can make in their life that adds up to promote a greener culture,” Kokka said.

Green Club also emphasizes the importance of educating their peers and community about the causes and effects of climate change.

“Not everybody fully understands the particular things that are causing the climate to get warmer and how serious and impactful it is to not just the global community, but also to our local community in Piedmont and the greater Bay Area,” Kokka said.

Davis said that Green Club plans to visit classrooms next semester to have open discussions about the changing climate and the environment to help inform PHS and MHS students about ways that their generation can help make a difference at school.

“Why sell plastic water bottles when we have two water fountains in our cafeteria?” Kokka said. “Especially when the average person consumes about one credit card’s worth of plastic per month by using plastic water bottles, utensils, and other goods.”

To further spread the word about climate change, Kokka and Davis said Green Club’s volunteers are collaborating with the Piedmont Climate Challenge, which is a Piedmont City program that encourages residents to collaborate with their neighbors to reduce their carbon footprint.

“I like seeing that we are making an impact on our school and community,” McWeeny said.