Three Del Oro High School students tackle climate change

While governments are puzzled as to how to handle climate change, three Del Oro High School juniors are making a change not only on campus but also in their community and potentially the region. Kevin Malaekeh, Jack Galloway and Jake Mccullough, all 17, started the Del Oro Environmental Club during their sophomore year to make their campus more environmentally-friendly. The three said they started noticing the impact that climate change and pollution has on places that they visited since they were children. "I have been a fly fisherman all my life and I have gone to the rivers that I used to fish with my dad and they are all dried up from droughts and pollution," Galloway said. "So that is definitely one of the inspirations as to why I helped start the club." As ash from the Camp Fire filled the air and covered cars like snow in 2018 all over Placer County, Maleakeh and Mccullough realized the widespread impact that climate change can cause. "That really just showed me that these droughts are big, these wildfires are big and it all comes down to our climate changing," Meleakeh said. "So that kind of made us want to do something about it." The first project that the club conducted aimed at reducing water use throughout campus. "What we do is we install these little units onto the faucets around the school and what they do is reduce the amount of water output but not the water pressure," Mccullough said. "So we went from outputting about 2.7 gallons per minute to around 1.2 gallons per minute." This project won the group an $800 grant to continue its environmentally-friendly efforts. Following their water conservation project, the group set out to tackle the issue of food waste ending up in landfills and instead creating a more beneficial way to dispose of the waste. "We have a schoolwide composting program," Galloway said. "So basically we take 20 pounds of food scraps left over from the cafeteria out to the farm and then we compost it out there every week." The composted waste is then used by the school farm as soil to grow crops, according to Galloway. "Through that program, we are saving about 1,000 pounds of organic waste from ending up in the landfills each year and that equates to about one ton of carbon emissions that we have saved from getting released," Maleakeh said. The club is now working with the Loomis Town Council, Recology Auburn Placer and the Western Placer Waste Management Authority to create a town-wide composting program. "That will be diverting about 30 pounds per home of organic waste from the landfill to get composted and that will reduce 140,000 pounds of carbon emissions," Maleakeh said. The program should be rolled out in September, according to Maleakeh. The work that the three do also supports the nonprofit organization they began, Youth Climate Action Coalition. According to Maleakah, the colatition connects 21 high schools across four states and three countries to provide them with the tools and knowledge they need to create eco-friendly campuses. "Basically, we provide a platform for schools across the nation and we give them the tools to initiate their battle against climate change," Galloway said. "We come up with personalized climate action plans for the school and we have a website that schools can go on to sign the pledge saying that they are committed to making their school more environmentally-friendly." Last December, the group won T-Mobile's Changemaker Challenge, Environment and the grand prize of $15,000 for the Youth Climate Action Coalition. Along with conducting in field eco-friendly practices, the club also wants to provide as many educational opportunities for the public. "We have been to some of the schools in the Loomis Union School District and we have talked to their kids about what we do and what they should do to help the environment," Mccollugh said. On Monday, the environmental club along with Climate Reality Leader Wei-Tai Kwok held a public event at the Del Oro High School Theater about "using climate science and community action to make a difference". "He (Kwok) is a big climate activist that has worked with Al Gore," Maleakeh said. The club wants to have more large public events to provide residents with an action plan to combat climate change. "When you promote taking action rather than political activism, I think people are more receptive to your message," Galloway said. "If you tell people that climate change is also affecting them and not make it seem like a distant issue that will happen in the future I think you will find people to be more receptive." The event was not only aimed at those looking for ways to be more eco-friendly, but also for those who are still skeptical about the idea of climate change being caused by humans. "I think if people take a step back and listen to the science and think about how climate change impacts their own lives, they will be more receptive to the message and hopefully will be willing to take action," Galloway said. The future of Del Oro's Environmental Club is in good hands, according to Galloway, as some underclassmen have shown an interest in taking over the club As for the Youth Climate Action Coalition, Maleakeh wants to grow the coalition into an international nonprofit that will provide tools and education for schools, and make the world more eco-friendly. To learn more about the coalition, visit YCACYouth.org, check out the instagram page at YCAC_Youth or email MaleakehK21@puhsd.us for more information.