Gouverneur High School club focusing on recycling 'to make a difference'
GOUVERNEUR — The meaning behind Gouverneur Central High School's Triple R Club is fundamental, but it refers to waste management rather than reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic.
Reduce, reuse and recycle are the bywords of the club, which started a few months ago to expand the school's recycling program and to raise environmental awareness among peers.
Club founder Donovan M. Adams said he became an activist after reading "An Inconvenient Truth" by former Vice President Al Gore.
"I went to the principal to start a club to spread green awareness and make a difference in our own special way in rural Gouverneur," he said. "They don't have to be a certain type of person to join, so long as they want to make a difference."
Mr. Adams drew in some of his acquaintances to get the club going.
"The more we helped him as friends, the more we saw how important it was," said Kaitlynn M. Morse.
Some members of the club also were energized by their first-place win last year in the Youth Energy and Environmental Expo at SUNY Canton with a project on wind turbines.
Their adviser, Brock J. Davison, is a physics teacher who offers a class on alternative energy.
Mr. Adams, who makes morning announcements on the public address system, has added "green" tips — such as using sand instead of salt on icy driveways — and words of wisdom from famous environmentalists such as Rachel Carson.
Although the group is only a few months old, it has lined up several projects. The school already has recycling bins in many classrooms for paper, and has a program to recycle some metals, but Triple R members want to add plastic and batteries to the mix.
"There are tons of water bottles and Gatorade bottles thrown away here every day," Mr. Adams said.
Club members have agreed to do some of the labor themselves so as not to increase the janitorial staff's workload.
"We're hoping any changes we can do in school will spread to the rest of the community," Mr. Adams said.
To raise money, the club is considering the sale of organic facial products and creams, and selling reusable tote bags and T-shirts with a logo designed by member Brittany L. Schermerhorn. The logo features an image of a portion the Earth with grass and trees surrounded by arrows representing recycling.
The club also is considering collecting plastic bags and distributing them to their stores of origin for reuse or coming up with another purpose for them.
"When spring hits, we're going to go around and clean up garbage that's on the streets," Mr. Adams said. "We've been trying to show how serious we are in the short time we've had."
