Schoolcraft College is a great place to learn to cultivate a difference. The Environmental Club is a brand new club designed to make the campus a cleaner and greener space for students to learn and grow. According to club president, Chase-Lyn Watson-Labell “[The club’s] goal is to educate people about the environment and make a difference in our community.” 

With three projects in the works, the club is already off to a great start. The first and most pressing project began last May with the removal of nearly 100 sandbags from the section of Bell Creek that runs along the edge of Schoolcraft’s campus. The project will continue with various meet-ups to remove more barriers and debris in order to bring life back to the creek which has served as an excellent educational tool for several generations of biology students. 

The second major project consists of planting a couple Monarch Butterfly Way Stations around campus. The Monarch butterfly population has been dwindling for decades due to the growing development and use of various pesticides making milkweed virtually inedible for the young caterpillars. The planting of these Way Stations around the country has already made a difference in the conservation of the beautiful insects. Bringing some to Schoolcraft is an exciting opportunity to help the species out and a great way to encourage them to bring some smiles to the campus.

The club has already attracted the attention of a few inspired students ready to make the necessary changes required for an environmentally friendly campus. Anyone prepared to do the same is encouraged to attend a meeting and/or reach out to the club heads. “Everyone here is cool and ready to put in effort to make the club impactful. We all would like to see more people: more people means more ideas and more impact” says member Carrick Hill. 

Due to the cold and inconsistent weather Michigan is plagued with in the winter, the group will experience a slow start. The winter semester will serve as a planning period for members to prepare for a spring full of action and to head out on occasional sprees to pick up litter around campus. 

The club meets on Mondays at 2 p.m. in the lower VisTaTech Center in Conference Room D. For more information, contact Student Activities by calling 734-462-4422 or email Professor Michael W. Orick at [email protected].