At Bellarmine Prep in Tacoma, the student Sustainability Representatives are busy – you might even say busy as bees. This group of 100+ students work to promote initiatives and educate their peers and the greater community in the area of caring for our common home. Since the start of the Sustainability Rep group in 2020, these dedicated young people embody the directives Pope Francis challenged us within the Laudato Si’ – to bring about an ecological conversion.

They’ve eliminated single-use plastic water bottles on campus, established composting in our Campus Center, cleaned up the stands after football games, taught lessons, and created newsletters to promote sustainable actions. Every Sunday, reps can be found working in the greenhouse – cultivating the newly established Kateri Habitat, tending to the diversity garden, caring for the bees in our beehives, feeding the fish in the aquaponic tanks and generally getting their hands dirty with love for the Earth.

With the global challenges we face regarding destruction of our common home, hope grows from the passionate optimism of these students.

Future plans for the Sustainability Reps include sponsoring our school-wide Justice Summit, initiating a JSN Bee-Keeping Certificate, and any collaboration with our fellow Jesuit institutions. If you have ideas or questions, let us know!

This article was originally shared in the March 2023 issue of JSN Hemipheres Newsletter.