Chatham High School Green Team Talks Climate Crisis

CHATHAM, NJ — Talks by sustainable business owners, the possibility of “green” air travel, concerns about New Jersey’s rising sea level and youth environmental activism, were all topics during a Chatham High School Green Team TedX event during the students’ lunch periods.

Students listened in to TED talks still not released publicly yet, from the Glasgow, Scotland Climate Countdown event in October.

Each day, students had a different focus about the topic of climate crisis, with the Countdown aiming to - by 2030 - slash greenhouse gas emissions by half of what they currently are.

“It was energizing and inspiring to see members of our CHS community come together to have conversations and share resources around these most important ideas,” said Chatham High School teacher Christina Reed, one of the event’s coordinators. “This is how positive change starts at the individual, local, and societal level.”

On the first day, students lunched on vegetarian and vegan sandwiches from New Vernon’s The Jolie Cafe, with its owner and chef Julia Erickson speaking to them about the benefits of healthy and organic eating, with ingredients picked from local food sources. They also watched a talk by chef Derek Sarno.

During the second day, Ryah Whalen of the Boston Consulting Group was the speaker of one of the TED talks students listened to about aviation decarbonization. Whalen weighed in on the benefits of flying, along with the impact from emissions. They also explored more about electric commercial flights with Ampaire Airlines, hearing a TED talk from the company’s founder, Cory Combs.

On Dec. 8, students heard United Nations Foundation’s Senior Advisor Ocean and Climate Susan Ruffo speak at the TED talk and then virtually met with Mayor of the Borough of Beach Haven, Colleen Lambert, about the impacts of flooding in Jersey Shore towns.

The last day wound down with students listening to a TED talk from Melati Wijsen, who organized a plastic bag ban campaign among Bali youth. Environmental Science Major at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Samantha Chasalow, a Chatham High School alum, spoke remotely with the Green Team about environmental campaigning.

The students finished the four-day event by working together on a display of sustainable products, also providing a list to the school of their favorite products. Some of them were shampoo and conditioner bars, toothpaste tabs, reusable sandwich bags, beeswax reusable wrap and dryer balls.

“It was really encouraging to see all the students and teachers excited to be there to watch the talks,” said Brooke Chasalow, CHS Green Team co-president, who was a student event organizer. “Discussing the talks was definitely my favorite part. It made me think a lot about what the next steps are for CHS, and I hope this event will lead to more student and faculty involvement."

“It was energizing and inspiring to see members of our CHS community come together to have conversations and share resources around these most important ideas," Reed said. "This is how positive change starts at the individual, local, and societal level.”

Questions or comments about this story? Have a local news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.