On April 7th, a group of around 15 Belmont Hill students and Mr. G. Sullivan went to Mystic Lake in Arlington by the Tufts Sailing Pavilion as part of a Sustainability Club cleanup project. There were significant amounts of garbage both along the bank of the lake and further away from the water. The garbage found just steps away from the hiking trail included styrofoam, half-filled cans of soft and hard drinks, clothing, and assorted plastics. There were even some “exotic finds,” as termed by Nathan Zhang ’26, who participated in the cleanup, such as an entire coconut. After over two hours of hard work, the group collected enough trash to fill an SUV trunk and back seats.
Later, on April 20th, five Belmont Hill students, again with Mr. Sullivan, went to the Charles River to continue their cleanup efforts. The smaller group joined students from Dana Hall and worked together to pick up plastic along the river, starting from the Cambridge Boat Club. At the Charles, there was much less trash than at Mystic Lake, although there was certainly more than none.
Thomas Danahy ’26, a head of the Sustainability Club, said: “It’s awesome to be able to get a bunch of guys [for the] cleanup [to] help our community. We’ve seen a lot of momentum building up for sustainability recently at Belmont Hill. He continued, “it’s really inspiring.” Thomas explained how “excited” he was “to keep up this energy and continue to make positive impacts on our community and environment.” Alex Zhang ’26, another head of the Sustainability Club, mentioned his personal connection to the area: “Coming from Winchester, the cleanup was especially impactful [because] I got to see firsthand how dirty my community truly is.”
The Sustainability Club, led by Thomas, Alex, and Tobi Jonas ’24, has been actively working to make Belmont Hill a more sustainable community. Meetings with faculty members and efforts such as these cleanups testify to the Club’s commitment to the local community. Consider joining the club to make a real difference!
