Generation green

BY KATE McNEIL

Don't call them tree huggers. They like furry things, too.

"We hug lots of bunnies," joked Kayla Barry, a member of the Bronx High School Science's League for Environmental and Animal Protection (L.E.A.P.) Ecology Club.

But the topics addressed at the club's annual Earth Day Fair - climate change, recycling, factory farming, animal abuse - were no laughing matter.

The 15-member club organized the school-wide event, held over four lunch periods of spring sunshine on April 18, to raise awareness of environmental issues. Alongside other student-run clubs and environmental organizations, L.E.A.P students made smoothies, painted faces and urged their peers to recycle.

Caitlin Ferrara, a senior in the Horticulture Club, sold flowers grown in the school's rooftop greenhouse. And there's talk of adding another garden. Jessie Cannizzaro, student body president, said she hopes to partner with the Horticulture and Ecology clubs to plant a garden on campus this spring.

Next to a giant inflatable earth, "Save the planet" posters, created by students, were displayed in the courtyard and onlookers voted for their favorite. The winner won $50.

Ali Berman, a representative from Student's Animal Guardian Alliance, a nonprofit, shared her wisdom about the effects of factory farming.

"Factory farming is a bigger contributor to global warming than transportation," she told students visiting her booth.

In fact, reducing consumption of animal products by 20 percent is equivalent to downsizing from a sedan to a Prius, she said.

Representing the Jewish Club, sophomore Anton Guz raised money to plant trees in Israeli forests. Although he only had $9 after the first lunch period, he wasn't giving up hope.

Perhaps due to the weather, the smoothie booth was the most popular. Junior Tatyana Barayev sliced bananas for the concoctions and added strawberries and yogurt for a fruity beverage.

"I think we've gone through 10 bags of these," she said of the bananas. Appropriately, the banana peels will be composted for the school's greenhouse.

Other local environmental groups like the Friends of Van Cortlandt Park and the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality set up tables to disseminate their message, and sometimes, their T-shirts.

Kayla, from L.E.A.P., manned the recycling table and handed out magnets listing recyclable items.

"We've been so overly educated about recycling," she said. "It's gotten to be a chore. I want to get people excited about it again."

A junior, Kayla said she hopes to organize a "blitzkrieg of recycling" at Bronx Science. In January the school installed several recycling bins in the cafeteria and classrooms. But her peers have yet to cooperate with the system, she said.

"They get lazy," junior Nola Dolan said of her classmates. "They throw their trash in the recycling bins and the janitors don't want to separate it."

After the outdoor activities, students gathered for an assembly on climate change.

Christine Chan, president of L.E.A.P., said the annual event rakes in about $500 for the club. In years past the proceeds have gone to the Bronx Zoo, Riverkeeper and the Arbor Day Foundation. This year donations will help the school plant a garden in the lunch courtyard.