by Hannah Hudson

We at KRL are excited about this our first Earth Day issue! We are focusing on many different and unique ways that people can Go Green and help the environment including Green Markets, e-book publishing, and more. We hope you check out our Earth Day related articles, along with the other articles in this issue! You can also check out more Going Green articles in KRL’s Going Green section!

Reedley College Green Club members are already busy as bees this spring. While they’ve been busy helping other groups with their ‘earth friendly’ events, they’ve also been planning some great things of their own. Their biggest project: a native plants garden behind the Life Sciences Building at the college. Faculty sponsor, Bethany Bush, passed around a blue print for the project at the latest Green Club meeting.

Native plants garden

“I’ve indicated where we’ll be putting down a walking trail near a river rock dry creek bed we’re building,” she said. “We might put a bench out there so people can sit and enjoy the view.”

The group received a grant from the Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program (MSEIP) for the plants used in this project. “This program assists predominantly minority institutions in effecting long-range improvement in science and engineering education programs and increasing the flow of underrepresented ethnic minorities, particularly minority women, into science and engineering careers,” says the U.S. Department of Education website.

Green Club is also using a grant from MSEIP to fund a trip to California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco this Friday. The Academy features an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, rain forest, 40,000 live animals, and engaging exhibits all housed beneath a living roof.

Also on the ‘green’ plate is a Trashion show on April 24!

“Trashion?” you might say. Yes, a trash fashion show! It’s a craze that’s been sweeping the nation where designers take discarded materials and create something worthy of a runway model. The actual show will be at 12 p.m. on a stage between the Cafeteria and Student Services Center.

Green Club has also been joining forces with other groups for the betterment of the environment. This past Saturday, several members joined the Kiwanis Club of Reedley’s Rails to Trails Clean-up. This coming Saturday, Green Club members will be taking a break from the Relay for Life to help with Selma’s City Clean-up efforts.

Hannah is a Social Media Manager based out of Reedley, CA, where she attends college for Forestry and Recreation. She’s a native of Detriot, MI and found herself in the Central Valley after a summer working at Sequoia Lake YMCA camps. Valley life has been good to her, and she’s currently looking at ways to get involved in her community and make a difference.