From annual beach clean ups to gardening activities, Diamond Bar High School’s Planet Arboretum is saving the environment one tree at a time.

Led by senior co-presidents Ashley To and Claudia Chen, the club strives to both improve and protect the planet. The club works toward this goal by participating in activities like promoting recycling and on-campus DIY events.

The DIY activities involve recycling old material into something new and usable, which emphasizes the importance of conservation. One activity the club hosted last year was the “T-Shirt Bag Renovation,” in which members brought old, unwanted t-shirts and created their own recyclable bags out of the garment.

“Our ultimate goal is to help protect the environment around us and teach other people about it,” To said.

Advised by Eric Sorenson, the club hosts their volunteer activities in locations such as the beach, garden and nature reserves near Diamond Bar.

“I’m always supportive of something that is conservation minded and especially something where people are taking care of the environment,” Sorensen said.

One way Planet Arboretum educates its members is through the gardening activities held at the Diamond Bar community garden, located on the corner of Diamond Bar Blvd. and Morning Canyon.

The owner of the public garden discusses the various wildlife in the garden and ways to help sustain their environments.

The club hopes that the experience can also incorporate environmental friendly habits into the members’ daily lives, so that they can carry them out into their adulthood and truly make a difference in the world with their knowledge and skills.

“By helping out at the garden, you can actually gain a lot of knowledge from the educator, and it’s also really fun to just hang out with your friends and do something nice for the environment,” To said.

The club also has many goals for the new school year, including an annual trail walk. Members can enjoy a stroll on the hiking trails at nature reserves such as the one in Mt. SAC.

While hiking, the club leaders hope to spread more awareness about both the positive and negative issues that are occurring in the environment, such as the damage done by global warming, but also the technology that is advancing to fight it.

By talking about these issues with the members during the hike, the event provides an opportunity for members to gain a deeper understanding of the nature and wildlife seen during the hikes.

“This environmental club is essential due to the dire situation our planet is in,” junior Yuwen Wang said. “Since environmental science is not a required course at our school, Planet Arboretum’s job of educating students about the habitat in which we live is even more important.”