Although Earth Day may look a little bit different this year due to quarantine, De Soto High School staff and students are still finding ways to celebrate nature and make changes that benefit the Earth.

For the Environmental Council, they have had to adapt their plans for Earth Day to a virtual setting.

“We were originally planning on some type of spirit week in order to raise awareness for sustainability,” senior Mason Ericson said. “We are [now] discussing doing a postponed virtual spirit week.”

The Environmental Council is challenging DHS students to come up with sustainable goals to celebrate Earth Day this year.

“My two biggest sustainability goals right now are reducing the amount of meat I eat and reducing waste,” Ericson said. “Removing meat from a couple meals can go a long way for carbon emissions.”

Science teacher Abby Adams has also challenged herself to become more sustainable.

“I know that in our home my husband and I try to do small things that make our lives more sustainable,” Adams said. “We raise a small garden in the backyard and have our own compost at home. Like most people, we recycle. I know that I would like to cut back on the amount of plastics we use by switching to more reusable containers. We have also tried to cut back on our meat intake.”

Adams has used class time as an opportunity to teach kids more about sustainable practices.

“These days, I think climate change and human impacts on the earth has a small part in everything we teach,” Adams said. “In AP Biology, we just finished a unit on evolution and we ended with a discussion of how human impacts could be contributing to another mass extinction. It is so important that we have these discussions, especially at DHS, because you never know what small thing someone is doing that can make an impact. Whether it be something the environmental club is doing or one student going home and asking their family to make a change, every little bit helps.”

For the week of Earth Day, Adams has also assigned her students projects that include getting outdoors in nature.

“The great thing about teaching science is that it is pretty easy to find reasons to go outdoors,” Adams said. “Biology is the study of life and there is no better way to see that first hand than getting outside. During our unit on ecology, we do scavenger hunts, predator and prey simulations and some experiments outside.”

Adams also adds that this Earth Day is a great excuse to spend time outdoors.

“I think we could all use fresh air and sunshine to feel a little better,” Adams said. “Hopefully it [Earth Day] will be spent getting outside with my son and going for a nice long walk or run together. He loves to be outdoors and just explore around our yard.”

Ericson adds that although quarantine makes it very easy to practice unsustainable habits, now is a really important time to make those small changes.

“It’s really difficult to be sustainable during quarantine,” Ericson said. “But I’ve tried to avoid packaged foods and quick snacks with packaging, and instead go with homemade or bulk options.”

To find out more about how DHS is celebrating Earth Day, follow @thedhseco on Instagram for more updates.