Junior Maria Knierim held a panel on sustainability during Pali Period in Gilbert Hall on Nov. 6. Nearly 100 students attended the event, which featured guest speakers from Reformation, Bavarian Motor Works (BMW) and Eastman Chemical Company. After school, a thrifting event open to all students took place in the quad to promote sustainability.
Knierim arranged the event as a Pali period that students could sign up for by selecting one of four teachers on Infinite Campus: Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish teacher Myrna Cervantes, AP Environmental Science teacher Steve Englemann, AP Macroeconomics teacher Kathryn Pawlik and art teacher Angelica Pereyra.
Knierim said that Joy Gruver, a business development manager from Eastman Chemical Company, reached out to her in late October to discuss her goal of teaching students to shop responsibly and to implement environmentally friendly practices into their daily lives.
“[Gruver] wanted to find a way to bring sustainability education into high schools, especially since teenagers hold a lot of responsibility behind fast fashion and consumerist habits,” she said.
Knierim continued, “I wanted to make sure kids at Pali were aware of how our society’s consumerism is impacting the planet and to also share a hopeful perspective on what different companies are doing to combat our current unsustainable practices.”
She described the extensive planning that went into the events.
“On top of organizing a panel of speakers, I also had to arrange a thrift sale in the quad and work with Pali’s permit coordinators to hold these events on campus,” she said. “It was extremely difficult to nail all of these speakers down, but getting to have this panel of impressive people who were so enthusiastic to speak to high schoolers, especially an all-women panel, made it all worth it.”
In addition to Gruver, Knierim partnered with Pali’s Human Rights Watch Student Task Force and Engelmann’s Environmental and Spatial Technology (E.A.S.T) class.
“The entire event was a collaborative effort and proved to me what can be accomplished when the student body comes together,” she said.
Junior Justin Reinman was one of the students who attended the panel.
“I take AP [Environmental Science] with Mr. Engelmann, and he was advertising the panel,” Reinman said. “I had an open Pali period, and it looked interesting, so I signed up.”
At the panel, brand representatives discussed how their respective companies were working towards incorporating sustainability into their products and bringing forth alternatives to today’s fast-paced consumer lifestyles.
Margaux Reynolds, a strategist for BMW’s innovation studio, spoke about the company’s environmental plans, which include using recycled and reused materials for their vehicle production. Similarly, Reformation brand representative Jenni Struthers explained the clothing brand’s goals to use 100% recycled materials by 2025 as part of their sustainability initiative. Gruver talked about her work at Eastman Chemical Company, which is producing textiles and threads that are eco-friendly.
Knierim discussed the importance of hosting these speakers on Pali’s campus.
“I think that hearing these guests discuss the measures they are taking to tackle this very real issue shows kids how global warming is not out of our control,” she added.
Reinman echoed Knierim’s sentiment, explaining that “our generation will be the biggest victims of climate change so we need to address the problem in order to protect our futures.”
Knierim’s panel was just one of many student initiatives to achieve climate progress on Pali’s campus.
“Once administrators and the world recognize that climate change is a main concern for students, we can make true progress,” Knierim said. “We need to continue to empower the student body because students want and will achieve change.”
