The Green Team, a student-led recycling program at Forest Park High School, has grown exponentially over the last 10 years. Each week, students on the Green Team collect recyclable materials from each classroom, weigh the bags, and then donate them to the Trex Recycling program, an organization that helps repurpose recyclable items.

Green Team members Samantha Breiner and Josh Girvan like meeting new friends and teachers through the program and enjoy helping the planet.

“I want to keep the earth clean,” Girvan said. “And keep the fish and turtles safe too,” Breiner added.

Ashley Tayon, sustainability coordinator at Forest Park High, enjoys seeing the school and community getting involved in recycling.

 “I remember when I got asked 10 years ago, ‘why do you want to become a teacher?’ and I remember I said, ‘It’s those light bulb moments,’ and when those light bulb moments go off when we’re doing this recycling, it just energizes me to want to do more,” Tayon said.

Last year, the Green Team collected over 1,200 pounds of plastic and were awarded a bench made of recyclable materials from Trex Recycling.

“For three years, they had been working toward that and when we finally got the email that we got to pick the bench we wanted and pick the color, I remember it was the first day of school I got the email, and that was a wonderful way to start this year off,” Tayon said.

Along with the recycling program, the Green Team tracks the number of water bottles saved by reusable water bottle fillers, grows their own vegetables within the school, and this year, the Green Team adopted a highway, Forest Park Drive, with hopes to keep the road clean and beautiful.

In the 2021-22 school year, students collaborated on a book called “Going Forest Green” where students researched, wrote, and illustrated a topic, leading to the book’s publication. Each year, the Green Team also leads a recycle rally in the school cafeteria where students can pledge to go green and make a difference.

November 15 is America Recycles Day, and the Green Team at Forest Park reminds everyone on America Recycles Day and every day to “keep it clean by going Forest green.”