The Environmental Club promoted the national “Stop Sucking” campaign to eliminate plastic straws by providing paper alternatives and presenting a visual display on Thursday.

“Caring for the environment is protecting the earth that we live in and rely on for literally everything,” Environmental Club member Anja Clark ’19 said. “I hope that from this campaign, we can begin to make a small impact on how people view the world and [show] how important it is to protect it.”

The display, which was a part of Community Service Week, showed how many plastic straws are used by the upper school each month and explained why they are so harmful. The club invited students to guess the number of straws and will award a prize for the closest estimation. Strawless smoothies in paper cups were also distributed.

“Though taking on plastic pollution may seem like a daunting task, it is much more doable as a community,” Environmental Club leader Sonya Ribner ’18 said. “We are starting at HW with something easy: eliminating plastic straws that nobody needs. Hopefully, from there, we can move on to eliminate other forms of single-use plastic packaging and tableware on campus.”

The Environmental Club is now working to discourage the purchase of foods containing palm oil, which destroys forests, and hopes to further expand their impact at the school.