Students at Bartlesville High School started a recycling and sustainability program midday Friday. Senior Liza Williams is the founder and president in the of the Environmental Club at BHS.

Williams says her interest in the club and the recycling initiative came from two unique experiences: one where she represented the state of Oklahoma in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition and the other during a high school trip as a Spanish student in Costa Rica. In those experiences, she says she never would've known about the importance of environmental sustainability.

Once she realized that for herself, she says she began to realize that her classmates may not know about enviornmental sustainability either. That also led her in her pursuit to start the Environmental Club and launch the recycling and sustainability program.

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company supplied 110 interior paper and plastic bins along with five large 96-gallon bins for the new sustainability program at BHS. CPCC will also provide a financial contribution to cover the initial cost. Research Operations and Facility Manager Bryan Kubsch says the work Liza and her classmates are doings is vital for the community. He says unchecked plastics and papers find their way into the enviornment often so the students at BHS are doing a great service for our community.

The smaller bins were sent to every classroom by Williams and her classmates on Friday when they arrived. Williams explains that the bins will be picked up and deposited to the larger bins each month. Honor Society Students will also help pick up the bins to be deposited into the bigger bins. Green Country Shredding will then pick up the bins and take them to the Bartlesville Recycling Center.

Williams explains that she also worked with the Bartlesville Public Schools Foundation's Excutive Director Blair Ellis to make this program happen at her school. Williams says she didn't realize how many steps that had to be taken to make an event like this happen but she is glad that Chevron jumped on board as quickly as they did. She also thanks Ellis, Ladonna Chancellor, assistant principals Fouts and Harp, and club sponsor Mrs. Strain for making this possible. Their support, Williams says, proves that they care about sustainability and how our community lives.

Other Enviornmental Club students incldue: Aarya Ghonasgi, Amrose Davis, Ashtyn Lashbrook, Autumn Garza, Avery Boulanger, Lainie Van Dusen, Elise Bear, Emily Wetzel, Emma Shelley, Erin Downey, Hadley Davis, Jamie Templeton, Jared Baker, Julia Fodor, Keely Laurence, Lauren Bell, Margaret Drummond, Miki Murad, Stephen Geroge, Miracle Morrison and Vivian Orta. These students will get to tour Chevron Phillips Chemical Company in the near future, Kubsch says.

As for the future of the Enviornmental Club, Williams says they hope to recruit younger members so the club will live on. Most of the current members are seniors, Williams says. She also says adding younger members is important for the future of our community.