The Green Team is sponsoring three drives this school year to collect 3 recyclable goods: used sneakers, jeans, and cell phone batteries.

Until Nov. 5, the club will collect used sneakers, which Nike will convert into athletic turf for underpriviledged neighborhoods, and used jeans, which Habitat for Humanity will use to insulate homes. Throughout the year, the team will maintain a collection box for recycling cell phone batteries in the main office.

The club decided to do a shoe drive for Nike because the program recycles the shoes in a new form, Green Team president Sonia Max said.

“[The recycled shoes] are primarily going to be used in neighborhoods that don’t have playgrounds,” Max said. “It’s a really good program.”

The Green Team originally participated in the jean drive two years ago. Habitat for Humanity received so many jeans, they didn’t have to run the program last year, Max said.

In the future, the team also hopes to install solar panels on the school or in the parking lots.  Green Team sponsor Kelly Garton talked to a sustainability co-op that was willing to help Whitman raise money for solar panels, Max said.

“But we don’t actually know if the building itself is compatible with solar panels,” she said. “It’s probably more of a long-term goal, but we’re working on it.”