This Earth Day, April 22nd, the Minnetonka High School Earth Club will be holding a community-wide tree planting event. Their hope is to plant 2,450 saplings which would remove 2,940 tons of carbon from the atmosphere, a huge step for the student body in helping the environment.

MHS Earth Club is organizing the event with Tree-plenish, a national organization that provides “an opportunity for community members to purchase a sapling and for high schools to take initiative to better their community by planting trees,” said Mason Hagen, ‘23, one of the three co-leaders of the club.

“The best thing an average citizen can do is to purchase a sapling,” Hagen said. Then, they can “come to MHS, pick up their sapling and either plant it themselves or have a volunteer help plant it.”

This will help remove carbon emissions in our area, and is a fantastic way for members of the

community to get involved in combating climate change.

Not only is Earth Club trying to help the community, but its members have created a community itself.

“Earth Club has had a really positive impact on me,” Hagen said. “I have a lot of close friends who I have met through being a member.”

The senior joined the club as a sophomore due to his passion about the environment and his want to help the community.

“As a co-leader,” Hagen explained, “I have a really great opportunity to organize events throughout the community and to simply help educate myself and other members, which is really rewarding.”

Hagen found it “super important that we are promoting the ideals of sustainability and the improvement of our local community and its natural beauty. I really hope this will have a lasting impact on the legacy of the Earth Club and the Minnetonka High School culture.”

Earth Club meets weekly after school on Tuesdays in room 2520.

Those interested in the Tree-plenish event on April 22nd can purchase a sapling or learn more at: http://tpevents.org/school/3194