Tim Sheehan calls the environment the “most important issue of our times,” and the recent Edina High School graduate isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty to address it.
As co-leader of Project Earth, Edina’s environmental group, Sheehan was instrumental in beginning a composting and recycling program at the school–even if he had to do the digging and sorting himself.
“He is very committed to the environment and protecting it,” says Project Earth advisor Rachael Pream Grenier.
Sheehan cites environmentalist and author Bill McKibben and his organization 350.org as Exhibit A of why the state of the environment is the pressing issue. The website states that 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide is the limit our environment can handle, and we are currently at 392 parts per million.
“We are getting very close to where our environment is going to be unlivable,” Sheehan says. “Getting into the field early and working hard to make some lasting changes when still young is important because I know if I wait–and we wait–we might get to a point where we can’t come back from.”
Besides the composting and recycling program, which has been handed off to the school’s custodial staff to make it sustainable, Sheehan set up water-bottle refilling stations to encourage reuse of plastic bottles.
“When I try to show sustainability to people, I try to show some really easy changes that can make a big impact when a lot of people do it,” Sheehan says. “We try to make it interesting and personal.”
As an advisor to many groups, Pream Grenier sometimes has to hold the students’ hands to accomplish goals. Not so with Sheehan and Project Earth.
“He goes above and beyond,” she says, “and takes leadership seriously.”
