Last year at Revere High School, three high school juniors, Philip Liu, Akshay Elango and Annabelle Yost, had a mission to make their school a better, more sustainable place. They noticed that Revere High School didn’t have a recycling program, and they saw an opportunity to make a difference. So, they decided to start the Revere High School Recycling Club. They were passionate about their cause, and they worked tirelessly to gather support from their classmates and teachers. Their main goal is to collect recyclable material from the recyclable material bins in each classroom, while also educating their peers on the importance of sustainable living. However, they did not stop there. 

As one of the leaders of the Recycling Club, Liu explained what the Recycling Club aims to accomplish and why they started it.

“It was created with the intention of recycling for Revere, because when we founded the club, Revere did not recycle in classrooms; there were no bins, so all the paper would go in the trash can,” Liu said.

Liu explained how selling t-shirts on behalf of the club would help the club with funding future projects and activities. 

“We thought that it would be a cool way to connect the club, and I always wanted to make one since I had a history of graphic design in the past so I know how to make logos and signs,” Liu said.

Liu created the dinosaur design that was printed on the club shirts.

Liu further explained why the club has gained so much attention. Today, the Revere Recycling Club is one of the largest clubs in Revere and Liu involves as many students as he can.

“[We are] at a point where there might be too many people for a job. I think that it helps build a community and make it a more fun and inviting place to be, not only to help the school and the environment, but to hang out with your friends,” Liu said.

Liu described the main benefits of joining the Recycling Club.

“People understand that the Recycling Club is not really intense, but it is a good way to help out your community and gain volunteer hours,” Liu said. 

Another crucial member in the recycling club is Akshay Elango. Along with Yost and Liu, Elango helps run the Recycling Club. As a founder of the club, Elango has seen the immense growth of it.

Elango explained how he, Yost and Liu came up with the idea of starting the club.

“Mrs. Gillette actually asked us if we could ask Project Planet if they were going to start recycling. So we asked Project Planet at that meeting, but it didn’t seem like they had any ideas to start a Recycling Club, so we took it upon our own hands to start the Recycling Club,” Elango said.

Elango explained how the Recycling Club differs from the normal clubs that you see at the school.

“I think the Recycling Club is the only club that’s really open to every single student in the school. I thought that was really good because we have a very diverse group, and it’s people from all different grade levels,” Elango said.

Elango explained what the Recycling Club’s future plans will be in the coming months.

“We ended up selling over 63 shirts in our first batch, and when we were distributing them, even more people wanted them. We’re currently going through our second order, and we’re actually making hats now,” Elango said.

Elango explained how far the Recycling Club has come in its journey and how he feels the community’s thoughts on the club are.

“We originally never thought this club was going to grow this big, but now we have over sixty members, and they’re all very passionate about it,” Elango said.

The final founder of the Recycling Club is Annabelle Yost, who founded the club with Liu and Elango last year.

Yost explained their work has been noticed by staff at Revere High School.

“I know that a lot of teachers have expressed gratitude for starting the club back up again once they built the new high school,” Yost said.

Yost also explained the Recycling Club does more than just recycling trash and that it can be used as a learning experience.

“It’s a really easy way to inform other people about the problems that they cause to our environment, and everyone has an easy way to get involved and make a difference,” Yost said.

Through running, managing and investing time into the Recycling Club, Liu, Yost and Elango have worked together to bring a better environment to Revere High School. Through their t-shirt fundraisers to their weekly meetings to help students gain volunteer hours, the Recycling Club is a good place for people to learn about the environment and make it a better place.