Maya McFadyen is on a mission to eliminate carbon emissions.
The Hauppauge High School student, who recently completed her freshman year, launched a project titled Better Minds Bettering Planet, in which she researched and analyzed her school’s carbon footprint and estimated how much carbon emissions it accounts for per year. years responsible. Carbon emissions contribute to climate change, which can have negative impacts on the environment and human health, she said.
In an effort to bring about change, McFadyen, 17, is raising money to buy one carbon offset for every tonne of the school’s annual emissions, which she estimates at around 2,200 tonnes. Carbon offsets are a trading mechanism that allows the school to offset its emissions by investing in projects that reduce or eliminate emissions elsewhere — such as a hydroelectric plant in Peru, she said.
To date, McFadyen has raised approximately $500 through donations from family and friends and through the fundraising platform GoFundMe, with an ultimate goal of raising $3,000. Each carbon credit costs between 50 cents and $20, McFadyen said. She said she hasn’t purchased any offsets yet.
“The idea came to me because I saw some of the work people were doing at the United Nations with their carbon offset program,” says McFadyen, who started the effort as a science research project at her school. “I thought it was really interesting and I found out that other schools were trying to do it, but it flopped and disappeared after a while.”
In preparation for the project, McFadyen said she researched her school’s utility bills to determine which items on campus used the most electricity and natural gas. One of the biggest energy-consuming items is the digital billboard, which promotes school news and has about half the monthly usage of an average 2,000-square-foot home in the United States, she said.
“Once I started doing the calculations, it was quite shocking to see how education can be so unenvironmentally friendly,” she says. Speaking about the importance of the project, she said: “This initiative not only contributes to the school’s impact on the environment, but also teaches students to take responsibility for their emissions and encourages them to become proactive in minimizing them .”
McFadyen, who said she plans to continue the project into the next school year and even beyond when she eventually goes to college, received a proclamation for her efforts this spring from the Suffolk County Legis. Leslie Kennedy (R-Nesconset).
“I am both proud and grateful for Maya’s tremendous efforts to reduce carbon emissions at her school,” said Kennedy. “Efforts like these show us that our youth are ready to overcome our future challenges with broad knowledge.”
Hauppauge High School Principal Joseph Wieckhorst added, “I am so proud of Maya and the initiative she has taken with this project to help Hauppauge High School become carbon neutral. She has a huge passion for helping her community and the environment, and this was a perfect way to combine both things. Maya is truly an asset to our school and our community, and her work will have a positive impact for years to come.”
