Hamden High Eco Club supports Six Lakes
Two members of Hamden High School’s Eco Club were among members of the public who spoke in favor of creating a park at Six Lakes at our latest community meeting, May 21st. We thought we’d catch up with them to learn more about their interest in all things environmental.
Lena Harms, a rising senior, said the club’s focus is to bring awareness of environmental issues to the Hamden community and even beyond. She and Aubrey Young (pictured above, speaking at the recent community meeting) enthusiastically support the goal of creating a state park at Six Lakes. They will be co-presidents of the Eco Club when school starts up again.
The Eco Club has existed for many years at Hamden High, albeit under different names. Lena and Aubrey report their main goals will be equal parts fundraising and awareness raising – for example, what composting is and how it benefits the environment.
Lena says one of her pet peeves is “the amount of food waste and other waste that should be composted and just isn’t.” The rumor is that the recycling bins are emptied directly into the trash. “There’s also a lot of littering,” she continues. “You can’t stop it altogether, but we could limit it, especially since the school is so close to the Farmington Canal and the amount of trash on the trail is incredible.” As a runner on the trail, she sees a lot of it.
Asked what motivates her involvement in the Eco Club, Aubrey says, “I’m most passionate about having a clean and neat environment near me because I grew up in West Haven near the beach, and it would be so heartbreaking when my family could barely go on it because of all the trash that would be left behind, like glass bottles and sharp objects. So, to me, cleaning up the environment is really making sure everybody enjoys life to the fullest [while] having a small impact, which is what the Eco Club makes possible.”
High school students form a valuable pool of potential volunteers, as Lena sees it: “I think a lot of students don’t know they have the opportunity to do things out of school.” For example, she hopes to have a seat on the town’s Legislative Council as a non-voting student rep.
Lena believes there would be great interest in the Six Lakes Park project if students knew about it. She learned about it when community organizer Justin Farmer visited the Eco Club. “He’s been really helpful to me so far,” she says. “He’s helped me figure out what I can do and put me in touch with the right people. I also ask him questions.” She says he lit her passion for the project. Lena added that Kathy Czepiel with Save the Sound was also very helpful, getting her started with collecting petition signatures in support of the park.
When asked if there was anything else she’d like to share, Lena noted, “I would let people know if they have students at Hamden High to please reach out to us because we’re always looking for new members. I will be at the Hamden fireworks, so if anyone sees me there, I love talking to people.”
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