GBN Student Combats School's Paper Usage By Planting Trees

NORTHBROOK, IL — For Sarah Ryan, fighting climate change is more than a personal passion project. The Glenbrook North High School junior is hoping that other students and community members will also join the cause.

Ryan has decided to partner up with Tree-Plenish, a nonprofit whose mission is to create more sustainable schools by replenishing the number of trees used to satisfy each school's paper requirements. Ryan, along with GBN, plan to plant 284 trees on April 24 to offset the school’s paper usage during one academic year.

"Tree-Plenish allows me to be hands-on with progress in my community towards a sustainable future," Ryan said. "Climate change directly affects my future and getting involved in programs like Tree-Plenish allows me to take some control over my future on this Earth."

According to Ryan, Tree-Plenish mentors students through a step-by-step process to achieve their ultimate goal: hosting their own tree-planting event. With the help of Tree-Plenish, students calculate their school’s paper usage. In order to reach their goal number of trees, students rely on residents of the community to request trees to be planted by volunteers in their yard.

In the past year, Ryan got involved with the Illinois Youth Climate Strike movement. She is also a member of GBN's Environmental Club.

"As a part of this club, I can say that it is super important to have a group of people with a common interest to help the community," Ryan said. "Their interest along with possible volunteering for the event encourages a larger community to come together to create change towards and more sustainable community."

Ryan said that interested residents are able to help support the event now. They can request a tree to be planted in their yard or sign up to volunteer to plant trees on the day of the event. The more homeowners that request trees, according to Ryan, the faster the students are able to reach their goals. If homeowners are unable to request a tree or volunteer their time, they can also make a monetary contribution on the Tree-Plenish website.

To learn more about Ryan's event, visit her website at https://www.tree-plenishevents....

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