BY KEENAN WEATHERFORD, Read This! writer

Most schools plan something special for Earth Day, but Branham High in San Jose has a weeklong campaign this year.

Branham High’s Recycling Club is spearheading the event, which continues through Friday. The group wants the week to be something of an eye-opener to students about Earth Day.

"I don't think that many people are really aware of, really care about it, unfortunately," said Farah Waziri, a senior and head of the club’s global warming committee.

Among the events the group has planned this week:

• Short student-created videos featuring an environmental-awareness message will be played during the daily announcements.
• On Friday, posters will be put up around campus with facts about the environment.
• Booths will be set up in the school’s quad with posters, display boards and other information about the environment.
• Laptops will be available for students to calculate their carbon emissions. (To calculate your carbon emissions, click here.)

To fund the Earth Day activities as well as its year-round programs, the club fund-raises and recycles at the same time. Little things like turning in old printer ink cartridges for money add up in the long run.

The club also applies for grants from environmentally conscious groups. Many such groups give grants to schools with the intention of making the school carbon-neutral, one of the club’s goals for Branham High. For the school to be carbon-neutral, 22 acres of trees would have to be planted.

There have also been discussions about buying solar panels and transitioning the school to solar energy, but that won't be happening quite yet, club officers said.

Keenan Weatherford is a senior at Aptos High.