PLANET Club members focus on recycling, beautifying area

Rick Dandes, The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
·2 min read

Oct. 12—DANVILLE — Members of Danville Area High School's PLANET Club are working to keep the school clean and debris-free.

PLANET is an organization of more than 70 Danville Area High School students that works to make their school more environmentally friendly. They run the high school's recycling program and take part in Adopt-A-Highway in the spring and fall.

The club is open to all students, said PLANET Club faculty supervisor Michael Mast.

The club meets once a week.

Mast has been adviser for the club for about 15 years, he said. "And it was in place before that. So it's not a new club by any means."

"The main thing we are involved in is recycling in the high school," said Mast.

But the PLANET Club also is involved in beautifying the area.

"Currently we are working on getting some trees planted on the high school campus," he said.

Another club project, Mast said, "is recycling plastic at our football games. That's when we have a higher volume of plastic that needs to be recycled."

Maddie Sauers, a high school senior, serves as president of PLANET. Sauers said she joined the club originally because "the environment and its health is very important to me," she said.

The idea of recycling is something she wanted to do at school.

"My group is responsible for taking all the cardboard we find and putting it in the dumpsters. It sounds a little unglamorous, but it's really fun," she said.

Sauers has also made quite a few friends through her participation in the club. "I just like the weekly recycling we do."

One of the things on the club's radar is to raise some money to plant trees, Sauers said.

Post high-school, Sauers plans on majoring in engineering.

Ryan Hause, also a senior, and vice president of the club, is similarly focused on environmental issues.

One reason he joined, he said, is that "being able to recycle is kind of a nice break. To be with the group and do something good for the Earth."

One of the things they learn through participation is what items can be recycled.

"Every day there is a lot of trash that goes out and into the dumpster," he said.

Hause said he "really likes the Adopt-A-Highway program." The latest was the stretch of Route 11 that starts at Dunkin, to the school.

People would be amazed at how much waste and debris is picked up all the time, Hause and Sauers said.

"Every week we fill up two big dumpsters of recyclables," Hause said.

Class Acts is a weekly feature highlighting students, teachers, programs and projects at Valley school districts. Email suggestions for future stories to news@dailyitem.com.