Last week NC hosted Green Week. Students had the opportunity to participate in a week of events to help learn about sustainability. Prizes were awarded each day. The big event that ended Green Week was a shoe drive at  the boys basketball game. 

National Green Week is a week that encourages schools to focus on creating sustainable activities and help spread awareness about the importance of keeping a healthy earth. Students can either choose a day or a whole week to participate. 

Schools choose themes to participate in according to the Green Education Foundation. These themes can be as small as changing your transportation such as carpooling or riding a bike. Other themes include a sustainability water challenge, green thumb challenge, waste reduction challenge and more. 

All of the challenges can help lead to simple changes in improving communities. 

Last week, each day of the school week had a different theme. Starting the week off on Monday, students focused on reducing their carbon footprints. The challenge was to reduce the carbon footprint by recycling, carpooling, using reusable bags and more. Participating students had the ability to win a $50 Visa gift card by submitting a photo to the @ncgreenweek instagram page.  

Tuesday’s challenge focused on using reusable water bottles. Students who submitted a photo of them using their reusable water bottle to Instagram were entered to win a brand new Hydro Flask. 

Wednesday’s challenge targeted fashion waste. Students were encouraged to wear recycled clothing, thrift and to try to avoid fast-fashion stores such as Zara, Forever 21 and Shein as they are considered unethical retailers. 

Thursday was a tech drive. Students were encouraged to drop off used technology where it can be properly recycled.

Green Week closed out with a shoe drive at the boys basketball game on Friday. The collected shoes will be donated to Soles4Souls for families in need. 

Senior Sawyer Husain was in charge of NC Green Week. Husain explains the significance and goals behind the shoe drive.

“We were looking at ways to incorporate different things that end up in landfills. Shoe drives were something that was unique and not traditional. 350 million pairs of shoes end up in landfills every year and we thought it would be something unique to target, this organization seemed to fall in our lap with how perfect it fit. It’s a great cause,” said Husain.

The goals for NC Green Week go beyond the five school days and focus on the bigger picture for increased environmentalism. 

“I hope students take away ways to incorporate environmentalism into their life, and for school administration to think about what they could incorporate in a possible recycling program at NC,” said Husain.