Growing up with a passion for animals and plants inspired BioMed Science Academy senior Andrew Long to develop his senior project to help the environment in the Rootstown and NEOMED communities.

In honor of Earth Day, Long and his classmates printed fliers with earth facts to hang around campus, put an infographic with statistics on the campus monitors, and asked that the hanging lights be changed to blue and green. At Long’s request, blue hydrangeas can also be seen around the NEW center.

Long’s project was in two parts, the first being to establish a community garden for Rootstown. After attending multiple township and Parks and Recreation meetings, Long’s plan for a community garden received approval and may come into being next spring.

For part two, Long worked with Matt Miller, the vice president of Signet Management, to develop ways to improve recycling on NEOMED’s campus.

“A common misconception is that students see the cleaning crew empty all the trash into yellow bins, so they think no one recycles,” says Long. “What they don’t realize is that there is also a bag for recycling inside the bin.”

Long suggests that adding a blue bin along with the yellow bin on the cleaning cart could help raise awareness.

“People can make a difference and small actions can go a long way to help,” says Long. “Every little bit helps.

Long says he’s naturally shy, and he credits this project with allowing him to become more extroverted and step out of his comfort zone by talking to new people. Long hopes to either attend The University of Akron or the University of Mount Union to study mechanical engineering or environmental science.