What On Earth Should You Do Friday? Eco-Night

Recycling didn’t used to be prevalent at , beyond a few recycling bins here and there.

So, when the high school’s Sierra Club was established about 10 years ago, the group’s first initiative was to raise money for more recycling bins.

Now every classroom has bins and club members collect paper, bottles and recyclables from the classrooms every week.

The Sierra Club sets out to help the environment and teach the Avon community about being eco-friendly. Earlier in the year, the Sierra Club did a fundraising drive collecting old electronics and ink cartridges, which they sent to Funding Factory to recycle. Club members also collected old shoes to donate to Soles4Souls last year.

“It just became embedded into our small, but steady mission,” said Andrew Dorr, an English teacher at the high school and the advisor for the Sierra Club.

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Dorr, who studied environmental science and forestry in college, was one of the founders of the high school’s program. Coming from a family with a mountain named after it – Dorr Mountain in Maine’s Acadia National Park, which his great uncle established –  the state of the environment is important to him.

“I like recycling because it’s not abstract. It’s an easy, concrete way of making a small difference and setting an example,” Dorr said.

That is a passion that seniors Emily Brinn, Rachel Kashdan and Haley Henneberry share as co-presidents of Sierra Club. Brinn and Kashdan joined their freshman year.

“The planet we’re living on is always going to be there,” Henneberry said, who values protecting it.

Eco-Night, the group’s largest fundraising event, has also become a staple at the high school. About 100 went last year, according to Dorr. The next one will be on Friday, May 4 from 5:30 p.m. to 9.

“I think it’s a fun alternative to going to the movies and going shopping. You can do something different for once,” Brinn said. “They’re learning about their community and what their community does to be eco-friendly. Most people know what’s eco-friendly and everything, but they don’t know that they can become eco-friendly right in their own town.”

Many Avon businesses and organizations that promote eco-friendly practices will be at Eco-Night, such as The George Hall Farm and , both of Simsbury, the Connecticut Sierra Club, East Coast Greenway, , of West Hartford and Connecticut-based Farmer’s Cow. , of Canton, will be there with some small reptiles. , of Canton, is donating pizzas and , located in Avon and Simsbury, is contributing ice cream. Sierra Club members will also bring home-baked goods to sell.

“People don’t know that these businesses are eco-friendly, so I think it’s fun if they can come and learn what these businesses actually do and how they’re helping the environment,” Brinn said. “A lot of the food places like Flatbread and Ben & Jerry’s, they get their ingredients locally, so that’s really good.”

Another example is J. Foster Ice Cream, which makes its own ice cream on-site, cutting shipping costs, Henneberry said. Farmer’s Cow doesn’t use any growth hormones in the cows that produce its milk.

Dorr said that he and the Sierra Club hope to integrate more locally grown food into the school’s cafeteria, which already does carry some farm produce from the region, like tomatoes, apples and pears, he said. One of the challenges, he said is that it’s costly.

“We tried desperately this year to bring more farm to cafeteria stuff to our school,” Dorr said. “We’ve met with the superintendent to talk about ways our schools could be greened…. There’s growing awareness, but we think there could be a little bit more.”

Students in the Sierra Club have seen it first hand through volunteering at in West Granby.

The club also participates in the Farmington River Cleanup and planted a tree near the high school entrance in memory of , an Avon senior who died in a car accident in 2010.

In keeping with the hands-on nature of Sierra Club, Eco-Night will incorporate many activities that allow families and kids to learn by doing, including bracelet- and smoothie-making, planting and yoga demonstrations. There will also be a face-painting and henna tattoo booth. And it would not be Eco-Night without Smokey the Bear’s presence.

“It’s fun and you will learn about the environment,” Kashdan said.

Admission to Eco-Night costs $3. Proceeds, including some money raised from refreshment sales, will benefit the Sierra Club.