Many clubs have had to cancel their projects due to COVID; however, the Students for Environmental Action plans to commence their Expo Marker Recycling program this January for teachers who need containers (made from empty tissues and magnets) to hold their dry erase markers. 

“So currently, we are collecting supplies and materials to assemble the boxes and assemble them in a park socially distanced,” club president, junior Anikha Guda said via email. “After that, one of us will go deliver them to classrooms so teachers can drop their used expo markers in the box and at the end of the year, we can send them to Crayola to be reused.”

Club members have already started the process by reaching out to different teachers.

“We are collecting requests from teachers on whether they already have a box in their room, or if we need to supply it,” project coordinator, sophomore Lauren Maher said via email. “Once we know how many teachers need boxes, our club will assemble them and send them out.”

Through this project, S.E.A. hopes to spread awareness about waste management on campus. 

“Expo markers are just one of the many things we throw away on a regular basis, so it is important to start with baby steps,” Maher said. “This project will overall reduce the amount of waste produced by Liberty, even if it is by a small amount.”

Organizing this project has presented a few challenges for the team and they are still formulating a plan to solve these complications.

“We had a hard time trying to figure out how to include everyone and safely conduct our first project, with many of our members being virtual,” Guda said. “We also had to find a place to meet outside of school so we had to schedule our project in the park so it is socially distanced.”

The Expo marker project is just one of several activities being discussed by the club. 

“Some future projects that we have planned are a storm drain labeling activity where our club members will label storm drains in neighborhoods to prevent people from throwing their trash and polluting these areas,” club ambassador, freshman Maher Hameed said via email. “Another thing that we plan to do are park cleanups to hopefully encourage keeping our environment clean.”

One of the club’s most ambitious projects is something that may take a while to put together. 

“Our larger goal that might take a few years to complete is a school wide composting system,” Maher said. “We are in the infancy of the system, and we will need to get lots of collaboration and approval from the school. We do not have an end date, but we hope within the next four years we can make it happen.”