At one time in the not-so-distant past, “green” described only the color of money. 

When we talk about our childhoods to our kids, they will shake their heads in secret disbelief, the same way we do when our parents tell us about the draft and disco dancing.  “When I was your age,” we’ll say, “there were no hybrid cars.”  “When I was your age, I never recycled my pop cans.”  “We never heard about global warming.”

We are moving forward, and it refreshing to see so many high school students working towards making the community more eco-friendly.  The H-F Green Initiative Team is specifically helping the school make environmental choices.  The fact that an active club was created reflects the growing support of such choices by both students and staff.

But we are not quite reassured yet.  We understand that “going green” is a part of pop culture that might disappear like a passing fad in the matter of months.  And we know that just thinking about the environment is not enough to change the world: we must take action.

The work done so far by the Green Team should encourage other students to make “greener” choices by recycling, planting trees, biking rather than driving, reusing grocery bags, using compact florescent light bulbs—to name a few.

Just as importantly, we need to know what we are talking about by researching information on the environment and related policies.  Every H-F student will be able to vote in the next few years, and a few years after that some of us may become the policy makers.  We must be informed and take action, and we can start now.