Join us now to make a difference!

Empowering Sustainable Choices Together

Join our "Better Tomorrow" initiative to promote environmental awareness through education and practical solutions for a sustainable future at workplace, school, and home.

So, Who are we, what do we do?

The Sustainability Club was founded by Regina Ayoubi, a Somers High School student who is passionate about Engineering and art as ways in finding creative solutions to improve sustainability and utilization of resources. The Sustainability Team is a group of volunteers whose goal is to raise environmental awareness through educating on simple products substitutions and modifications to daily use and consumption of resources, to create a sustainable workplace, school, home, and to encourage students, parents, business, and staff to “take a step” towards making a difference. It’s all about Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

DID YOU KNOW? The U.S. produces more than 30% of the planet’s total waste, yet are only 4% of the world’s population!! Come on – we can do better than that!

Current initiative: Trash Free Fridays

So what are Trash Free Fridays?

Trash Free Fridays is a weekly program, which encourages families to pack a trash free lunch by using reusable containers, bottles, utensils and napkins to decrease the amount of trash our school contributes to landfills. While we encourage families to be “trash-free” everyday, on Fridays, each student that has a trash-free lunch will receive a sticker. Students with a trash free lunch will be entered into a monthly raffle drawing for great prizes. Students that buy school lunches on Fridays will have an opportunity to get a sticker or raffle ticket by helping Volunteers guide students on how to properly dispose of their trash in the proper bins: recyclable, compostable and trash.

So How will we make a difference and what do we plan to do?

1-Launching the ' Reduce, Reuse, Recycle training program (slides attached), and educate people of all ages on how to make better products choices, and simple changes of daily habits. Educational materials and initiatives can also be found on our website www.thesustainabilityclub.org

2- Raise funds to finance initiatives to make an immediate impact by providing sustainable products substitution and use modification. Example of a recent school initiative:

Buy and introduce:
- Composts (food scrapes) and recycle bins and educate students on proper use.
- Water bottle filling stations
- Daily monitoring of amounts of food scrapes by weighing composts containers at the end of the day: GOAL IS TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF WASTE BY 20% by the end of 2024, and 40% by the end of the school year!
- Raffles to engage students in waste free activity days
- Host after school activities to engage students in compost and food scrapes in land processing

3- An active task force to perform walkthroughs at:

Local schools, classrooms, offices, lunch areas, to look for alternatives ways to minimize waste and better substitutes that are recycled, sustainable and cost efficient.
Businesses, to help them in finding ways to decrease waste and find green products alternatives.
Household virtual visits: upon request

Check out our sustainable choices product launch on Amazon! Our storefront "Better Tomorrow" has all the products alternatives you need that are already inspected and vetted by us using the 6 evaluation criteria below... For a better tomorrow!
There are 6 criteria that we use to measure the environmental and social sustainability of each product that we recommend:

Is the product free trade/ethically manufactured: It is well documented the importance of paying fair and living wages to individuals in less developed countries. In doing so, one of many positive benefits is that there is a better chance of women and children becoming educated. This enables the most vulnerable a chance to get out of poverty and an opportunity to make decisions that can help the well-being of their community and environment. Some say this might be the first step towards fighting climate change.
Is the product part of the 5 R’s of the Circular Economy (Recycle, Rethink, Reuse, Redesign, Reduce): Is the product made from recycled products? Can it be directly recycled, reused, redesigned? Keeping the product in the economy reduces destruction of the environment.
Timeless over Trendy: Long lasting products reduce the extraction of materials from the environment, which can both positively indirectly and directly affect the environment. Choosing products that can stand the test of time, reduce overall environmental impact.
Is the product environmentally labeled: Labels such as FSC approved wood, or OEKO-Tex are certifications that are granted to products based on a set of criteria established by the third-party organization. These labels are extensive and can encompass products with low/no VOC emissions, to a certification of organic. The list goes on depending on the product. Strict environmental guidelines are the driving force behind these labels.
Is the product manufactured within a country with controlled environmental standards: Each country has their own set of environmental standards that companies need to adhere to. Unfortunately, the lack of standards or minimal ones in some countries can not only be disastrous to the environment itself, but typically the most vulnerable populations are the most directly affected with disease and other health consequences as a result. Understanding where and how a product is manufactured is of paramount importance. Ask the questions.
Is the product natural/biodegradable: When a product leaves the circular economy and ends up in landfill, the importance of the product being natural and biodegradable is paramount. When a product is completely biodegradable, the product breaks down into earth and ultimately gives back to the environment.

This is a great way to give back to our wonderful community, school and the planet.

We will need volunteers