Recycling has become a big issue in the 21st century. Americans produce an average of 4.4 pounds of trash per person every day while the rest of the world produces only 2.6 pounds of trash per person. Out of the 254 million tons of trash produced by Americans in 2013, only 87 million tons were recycled. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable yet only 30% is thrown into a recycle bin. This has caused a need for increase in recycling programs at schools around the country.
However, I still continue to notice problems at Poly when it comes to recycling and campus cleanliness. It frustrates me that there are no recycling bins in the quad. Think of all the items that could be recycled but are thrown into garbage bins, contributing to the 254 million tons of trash that we Americans produce every year.
This is not Poly’s fault alone. LBUSD does not provide funding for the blue recycling bins in select classrooms, said Libby Huff, the PacRim business teacher. The National Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) paid for the blue bins and Huff said the cost was about $1,000.
LBUSD does not provide funding to its schools for recycling. Janitors are not paid to take care of school recycling. Recycling on campus is completely up to the students and the staff.
One frustrating thing about the recycling on campus is that only paper, bottles, and aluminum cans can be placed in the bins. Think of the other items that could be recycled, such as plastic bags, styrofoam, milk cartons, and plastic containers. Long Beach takes all of these items through their recycling program. So why are we only allowed to recycle cans, bottles, and paper at school?
It is very disappointing to hear that the district does not provide recycling funds to schools. I understand that they have a lot of expenses, but the environment is more important than those fancy Chromebooks students, including myself, are using.
Instead of buying all those laptops, why not use the money to provide recycling bins and programs to all the schools in the district? Why are more teachers not interested in getting involved with recycling at school?
We have environmental science teachers who lecture about the environment, air pollutants, trash, and global warming, yet our school is still far from being a clean and environmentally friendly campus. Practice what you preach!
Last year, sophomore Cosmo Hebert and I tried to make a change in the school concerning the use of plastic straws in the student store. We wanted to replace them with paper straws.
I know what you are thinking, “How could the straw not get all soggy and gross.” The company Aardvark makes paper straws that are durable and are environmentally friendly. We went to the student store armed with straw samples and pricing. Unfortunately, the student store was uninterested and the idea of paper straws did not get started. The paper straws only sell for about 2 cents more than plastic straws. The drinks that are sold with a plastic straw retail for $1.
We also wanted to get styrofoam cups banned from the student store. The student store now uses paper cups, because of a district-wide ban. Although these paper cups are still not the most environmentally friendly it is a step in the right direction.
I want the students of Poly to speak up if this concerns them too and talk to the principals and teachers about this.
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