AHS Environmental Club Hosts Tree-Plenish Fundraiser
Angela Mac
STAFF WRITER
The Environmental Club partnered with Tree-Plenish, a nonprofit organization, to plant 225 trees around Andover to offset the paper usage at Andover High School.
This was the second annual tree-planting event, and it took place over April break on Saturday. Prior to that, anyone could donate $5 to buy a tree for the Bellevue Reservation or other small reservations in Andover, or even for their own homes. The Environmental Club’s goal was to counteract climate change by planting trees to reduce carbon emissions. This year, they succeeded in offsetting about 2.25 million sheets of paper.
In addition to reducing carbon emissions, planting trees also helps counteract heat islands, which occur when structures like buildings and roads re-emit the sun’s heat more than natural landscapes such as forests and bodies of water. These urbanized areas soak up all of the heat and cause the surrounding area to become a lot warmer than an area with a lot of greenery.
Eva McKone, co-president of the Environmental Club, said that “heat islands are prominent in Andover” and this event is “just kind of a way to give back to the community.”
“I think [the event] really contributes to making Andover a greener place and making Andover High School a more carbon-neutral school,” said Sadie Rooney, vice president of the Environmental Club.
Another, more involved way of supporting the fundraiser was to volunteer by delivering and planting trees yourself. Groups, most consisting of two people, went out and helped the Environmental Club plant trees all over Andover. The trees, which were still saplings, were about two feet tall. The three species planted were Dogwood, American Sycamore, and Paper Birch.
Junior Amelia Hanscom, Vice President Sadie Rooney, and freshman William Yu plant trees at a reservation
Melanie Cutler, a teacher advisor of the Environmental Club, said that the majority of her role in the event was supporting. She said that McKone and Courtney Duffy, co-presidents of the club, along with Rooney, did the planning and the organization. Though Cutler let the students run the show, that didn’t stop her from donating and buying trees herself.
Cutler remembered, “I got, I think, five last year, and then my well-meaning neighbor mowed our lawn for us. Right after, he killed all the trees I planted, so I had to buy some more this year.”
Jake Chisholm, a junior in the Environmental Club, donated and planted trees as well. At one of the locations, he planted trees for a woman buying trees for her entire neighborhood. The way the fundraiser is set up allows people in the community to create connections with one another. It offered an opportunity for the volunteers to talk to the people of Andover and explain the purpose of the fundraiser and its goals.
“Maybe you donate to a college or something like that, you don’t see the change, physically happen. But even just looking outside and seeing their tree grow over time, they’re gonna be able to see that change happen right in front of them,” said Chisholm.
