Venice students and staff will be showing their appreciation for the Earth in many different ways for Earth Day this Friday.

Heal The Bay is hosting the in-person event out on the front lawn from periods two through five and during nutrition and lunch. 

The festival will have environmentally focused club booths, and classes will present projects about environmental issues.

Junior Maya Velasco is the event coordinator for Heal the Bay and Secretary for Garden Club.

“I have been celebrating Earth Day since I was little,” she said. “My mother was also a member of organizations like Greenpeace and Sierra Club, exposing me to documentaries and current events constantly. However, I really began taking action on Earth Day when we got Heal The Bay involved last year.”

Heal the Bay is also hosting three 30-Day Eco Challenges—a food waste challenge, a recycling challenge, and a compost challenge. 

“The food waste activity challenges students daily to a different goal at tracking and minimizing food waste,” Velasco said. “Our recycling challenge simply prompts students to track an item they recycle daily. And lastly, our compost challenge, sponsored by a collaboration we have with the Garden Club, tasks students to track what items they can and do compost over the month-long period.”

There is also an Earth Day Art Contest.

“The Earth Day Art Contest encourages students to take pieces of trash, any items they would normally throw away, or even unused materials to create any piece of art,” Velasco said.

Velasco is excited for the Earth Day events and hopes students will learn more ways they can help the community.

“Earth Day is an opportunity to share my passion for environmental justice, show other students and individuals the rising dangers of environmental issues occuring around the world, and get others involved and determined to follow the same,” she said. 

Japanese teacher Hiroko Nomachi is currently teaching her students how people recycle in Japan. She has celebrated Earth Day for years.

“It’s been a tradition for at least 10 years to have a school-wide event, so that we can incorporate all the students to show what they learned and to help others understand,” Nomachi said. “Students can learn from it and possibly change their behavior so that they can take steps to ensure a safer future world.” 

Nomachi is optimistic that these events and projects will encourage students to get more involved.

“Earth Day for me means that we are having more people, adults and students, more aware and conscious of their footprint and what they leave behind. I’m hoping that we’re able to leave the Earth in a better place than we found it so that future generations will have a cleaner and safer place.”