“It’s symbolic. We are doing it to make a statement that we care about the planet,” said Sztuka.

Sztuka also spearheaded the litterless lunch concept, which she said half her students already do daily. To qualify as litterless all lunch items had to be recyclable, decomposable or reusable. After the data is collected, she plans to present a report to her students on how much energy was saved during Earth Hour.

Angelica is one student who has taken the message to where the heart is — home.

“I tell my parents about recycling. They don’t really care as much but I force them to do it,” said Angelica.  “Recycling and all these Earth Hour things weren’t really as important when our parents were young.”

Her commitment to the environment was noticeable by her completely litterless lunch, which she not only brings regularly but also personally packs. She said her parents know the importance of ecology but they don’t try as hard as she does.

It was exposure to Earth Hour a few years ago that inspired her to change.

“Knowing that this day can make a change inspires you to make more changes for your everyday life and to think more about the Earth and not yourself,” she said.

One successful day of conservation isn’t enough for Sztuka. She plans to organize a week-long litterless lunch event to give students a visual of how much garbage they can keep out of the trash.

“We have to try showing them more tangibly how it’s helping.”