Oak Park High School has its very own club dedicated to preserving trails for optimal hiking experiences.

“We nurture the environment by collecting trash on trails in our local community,” club president and junior Joey Berger said. 

Though some may perceive collecting trash as an easy task, it can be quite time-consuming if done thoroughly. Needless to say, the effect it has on the environment is impactful. The Hiking and Recycling Club dedicates their free time on weekends to the environment in our community.

“At Hiking and Recycling Club we pick up track and recycle, obviously, but our main focus is to make sure that the community stays in a pristine, natural environment so it can be a better and prettier place for the people who come to hike after us,” club secretary and junior Lincoln Reyes said.

Throughout the school year, OPHS Hiking and Recycling Club acknowledged and celebrated certain days, like Global Recycling Day. However, they make sure to celebrate the Earth always in their everyday actions. 

“In honor of Global Recycling Day, we went through a couple different trails, picked up trash and brought it over to the recycling center, making sure it got sorted correctly,” Reyes said. “All the members of this club care deeply about the Earth, so we try to pick up trash every day when we see it in our daily lives.”

The club pledges to respect the environment and treat it with love every step of their weekly hikes. While everything they do is important, the physical recycling and sorting of the trash makes the greatest impact on the Earth long term.

“When people do care enough to recycle, most of the time they do not sort it,” Reyes said. “It is crucial to sort trash into the correct designated categories because of contamination. When a load is overly contaminated, it can’t pass, which completely takes out the point of recycling in the first place.”

A commitment to helping the environment is noble and requires a lot of integrity. The Hiking and Recycling Club takes great civil action to ensure a positive future for our community. 

“I made this club not just to help the environment, but to inspire people to make a difference for future generations of the environment,” Berger said. “We should care for our Earth and our community each and every day.”