Rocklin High School (RHS) produces the waste of a standard person, 4.4 pounds of trash a day, magnified by 2,225. At RHS, there are about five main categories of waste and there’s a lot of it.

Waste is a major part of what makes up a negative environmental footprint. Understanding how to help and where you can go to contribute is a part of raising awareness. At RHS, there are numerous opportunities to make a positive impact and help the environment.

Within RHS, there are environmental science courses that hone in on what sustainability is and how to achieve it. AP Environmental Science teacher Mr. William Kimmel believes there is still room to grow.

“If we could reduce the number of people [driving] to school by themselves, that would be really nice, through either carpooling or using public transit, biking, even using e-bikes or scooters or things like that,” Mr. Kimmel said.

“[At school pickups] there will be parents in the winter or summer months when it’s either really cold or really hot and you’ll see a line of 50 or 60 cars running. The two things I don’t like about that is that you’re wasting that energy and producing toxic air. You have a bunch of kindergarteners or first and second graders standing next to air that’s not as high quality as you would want it,” Mr. Kimmel said.

Beyond the classes, there are clubs at RHS that focus on ways to give back to the planet. The Marine Biology Club is working on several projects, one of which is a school-wide water bottle challenge. They aim to reduce waste from the use of plastic water bottles. Another involves fundraising to give to programs that clean the oceans. One of their main efforts, though, is one to clean local watersheds.

“We’re also starting to work together as a club to clean our local watersheds, like rivers or streams before it starts raining. We want to make sure that when the water does start flowing pretty strong through those watersheds there’s no trash and [that] we’re keeping it nice and clean and safe” President of the Marine Biology Club Kendall Milligin said.

Marine Biology emphasizes the importance of community service through the club and the importance of getting involved. Marine Biology Club meets every Blue Wednesday at lunch in Mr. Mertz’s room, G2.

Besides the positive impact of the Marine Biology Club, there is an Environmental Science Club again this year. It is targeted toward those who have an interest in sustainability and in helping with the school garden. 

The Environmental Science Club will focus on engulfing the garden club as well as supporting the Marine Biology Club. For anyone interested, lookout for information about the club meetings coming soon.

There are plenty of ways to get involved in saving the planet, all that is needed is a little time and effort. The payoff in the end would be a more sustainable lifestyle and a planet to pass off to the next generations. Getting involved with a club can make a difference and all there is to do is drop on by.