Saving the environment has been a huge concern for many students at RB. Ecology Club is an organization composed of students who want to give their time and effort to help the environment. This club usually goes out to local wooded areas and works to remove invasive species currently choking out the native plants.

On Sunday December 13, the Ecology Club held a volunteer workday at nearby Waubansee Woods. Participating students and staff gathered together around 12:00 and set out for the woods. Their goal was to try to get rid of as much buckthorn as they possibly could in three hours time.

Sophomore, Nina Pellizzari said, “[Buckthorn] is an invasive species and has been basically destroying all native plants in the areas/forest. The deer cannot eat it because it is a laxative. Since [the buckthorn] is not native, the native animal species cannot/will not eat it also.”

Pellizzari explained how horrible the plant is to the forest. There is an idea that they should try introducing a new species to try and get rid of it, but that in turn might spiral out of control. The best way to try and get rid of it is to burn the buckthorn.

That is exactly what the ecology club did on Sunday. Club members took big piles of wood composed of buckthorn cut down on previous workdays and burned them. They did this for multiple hours and really helped clear out some of the invasive plant species.

Buckthorn remains an ongoing problem, but the Ecology Club is really aiding in the process of eliminating it.