The Green Team

Introduction to Board Members

Claire Dawson (Senior) is the president of the Green Team and the former president of Climate Action, which they merged with Green Team in 2022 upon becoming its president. Both clubs shared the goal of promoting schoolwide action toward climate neutrality. Claire recognized the value of centralizing student environmental efforts while maintaining climate action as a subsection, increasing the potential for making a positive impact.

Claire has been passionate about sustainability their whole life, saying, “It’s insane that people wouldn’t actively care about improving the health of themselves, others, and their planet.” They became vegetarian at 13, inspired by Greta Thunberg’s climate movement. This experience kick-started their interest in taking action, believing that “individual actions make a collective impact.” Over their four years with Green Team, Claire has seen firsthand the club’s impact at Northside and firmly believes in engaging students to continue driving positive change. As Claire puts it, “Everyone has potential, everyone can care. Teaching kids—who will become our future leaders—to make that same impact and push for change makes our world better.”

Isaac Morowitz (Junior) currently serves as co-recycling manager on the Green Team board. After learning to run the Recycling program last year, he stepped into a leadership role this year. “It’s a great opportunity for me to show what I know about the program,” he shares.

Ms. Ayesha Qazi-Lampert, a Science department member, sponsors the Green Team. She teaches AP Environmental Science and Honors Biology and is deeply connected to the club’s mission. Ms. Qazi-Lampert believes Green Team is an important club at our school, calling it a “vehicle of change within our classrooms and school.”

The Board also includes:

• Gabi Jameson (Vice President, Junior)
• Sophia Zambrano (Co-Recycling Manager, Junior)
• Ami Desai (Zero Waste Manager, Senior)
• Andrew Cohen (Climate Action Manager, Sophomore)
• Jane Ebbitt (PR Director, Sophomore)

Impact

Ms. Qazi-Lampert emphasizes that Green Team is a space for Northside students who care about the environment to take action. The club works to accumulate funds and push for infrastructure changes. One significant accomplishment is the installation of additional bike racks at Northside—a project that took four years to complete. Ms. Qazi-Lampert is particularly proud of this club’s achievement, which involved collecting data, presenting it to administrators, and working with the District and CPS to make it happen.

The club regularly cleans up litter and raises awareness about environmentally friendly practices. The club encourages the administration and staff to evaluate their actions and infrastructure while advocating for additional sustainable initiatives within the school building.

The most actionable changes come from the club’s Climate Action, Recycling, and Zero Waste subsections. These subsections directly support school sustainability through physical recycling and waste management efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of landfills, as well as implementing infrastructure.

Recycling

At Northside, the recycling program involves collecting recyclables from all classrooms, consolidating them into larger bins, and transporting them to the main dumpster on the first floor. Students can get involved by joining the Green Team and expressing interest in recycling. Isaac shares, “It’s a great way to meet new people and pay attention to the planet.”

Recycling is organized by lunch periods: D lunch handles the 1st and 3rd floors, while B lunch covers the 2nd floor. Recycling occurs either on Mondays or Thursdays. These groups pick up the recycling cart from Northside’s loading bay, then go classroom by classroom, emptying the bins into the large container. Claire shares that one challenge is that some recyclable materials are not properly sorted, requiring volunteers to hand-sort the items. After collecting the recyclables from each floor, the students return the bin to the loading bay and dump it into the designated recycling dumpster. 

Zero Waste

In previous years, Zero Waste leaders at Northside have helped students properly sort lunchroom waste, including composting organic materials. However, this year, the removal of compost and recycling bins from several approved eating locations, including the cafeteria, has posed a challenge. The Green Team is working to reinstate these bins. In past years, compost was collected daily and taken to a compost heap to get processed into natural waste.

When the multi-waste disposal program was first implemented at Northside in 2016, it diverted 97% of waste from landfills, with 87% going to processing facilities and the rest being composted.

Data collected by Green Team in 2016

Climate Action

On a local level, the Green Team manages recycling and waste management in the lunchrooms to reduce the amount of waste Northside sends to landfills. They also work on implementing infrastructure that encourages green habits, such as biking to school, reusing and properly sorting materials, cleaning up trash, and gardening.

In the past, the Green Team has pushed for the installation of solar panels, the creation of a greenhouse, and the addition of anti-bird-collision stickers on the library windows. Last year, the Climate Action subsection installed three new bike racks, completing a project that started when Claire was a freshman and Climate Action was a separate club.

Getting Involved

It’s never too late to join the Green Team! The Google Classroom code is rtdgpwq, and new members are always welcome. Also, follow their Instagram @ncpgreenteam for meeting notifications. Joining subsections like Recycling, Zero Waste, or Climate Action is a great way to make an impact. Plus, students can earn service hours through participation in the Recycling and Zero Waste subsections.

Meetings

Green Team meets biweekly on Thursdays in Room 304. Board members meet weekly on Tuesdays to organize, plan, and check in on ongoing projects. Subsections meet weekly (Recycling and Zero Waste) or bi-weekly (Climate Action) during lunch blocks or after school in room 304. 

Green Team’s meetings focus on educating members about climate politics, participating in climate activism, making actionable changes (like community cleanups), discussing ways to improve both the school and the planet, and having fun with climate-related events. So far this year, the club has held the annual “Plant Parenthood” event, where they distributed seeds and pots for members to plant and “adopt” their plants. Other events have included a screening of Don’t Look Up, a film about climate change, and discussions on infrastructure changes for the school and environmental policies under the current presidential administration.

As you go about your day, consider ways to be more climate-friendly. Appreciate the work that the Green Team does for our school community, and consider joining the club!