The few minutes following lunch, cafeteria lunch trays, paper wrappers and juice boxes can often be seen strewn across tables and the ground in the quad, making an appetizing meal for swarming crows to pick up as maintenance staff scramble to pick up after littering students.
This daily scene is just one part of the campus’s larger littering problem, mainly concentrated around where students eat lunch, say school officials and members of the Environmental Club.
“I go nowhere without my litter pick,” maintenance supervisor Brian Moran said. “It’s almost an extension of my arm. The hallways are kept reasonably clean, but the quad and parking lot are the worst.”
Littering at school is hardly a new issue. When Environmental Club co-presidents Dasha Gousseva and Annie Xu approached Moran for advice about a recycling project, he told them the extent of the problem on campus.
Two maintenance workers pick up litter after lunch, and one or two others periodically pick up litter in the parking lot throughout the day, Moran said.
To combat students’ lack of awareness surrounding which items can or cannot be recycled, the Environmental Club has been working on the recycling project this year, signaling a new willingness on the students’ behalf to take action.
A main objective of the recycling project is to improve the sorting out classroom recycling bins to ensure that each classroom has one in an easily accessible area. Club officers have also applied stickers to the bins outside to identify what is recyclable or not. In addition, they have placed recycling bins next to each garbage can.
According to Moran, ensuring that there is a recycling bin next to a every garbage can on campus is crucial so that students can make a choice.
Club treasurer Kiran Rachamallu has noticed that presenting this choice, accompanied by the signs, has had a positive effect on students.
“I definitely think it’s making people more aware,” Rachamallu said. “After our event at Speak Up for Change week, I actually overheard two students arguing over whether something was recyclable. Hopefully, people will be more aware and take a few seconds to think about whether something is recyclable.”
Junior Edward Zhang, who is participating in the project, said that though there has not been enough time to notice a large difference yet, “more people will learn how important the environment is and help through their own means, such as composting, recycling and picking up trash.”
Moran also emphasized that it is important for students to separate recyclables from garbage. Doing so ensures that the trucks transport certain items to the correct facilities, enabling recycling or trash disposal to run more smoothly. Otherwise, misplacement reduces efficiency. For example, Starbucks cups cannot be recycled because their plastic lining is difficult for recycling plants to process, slowing down the entire system.
The Environmental Club’s signs around campus have helped with distinguishing between recycling and trash, but many students still throw all items away in one bin without paying heed to labels, although almost everything other than food stuffs can be recycled.
Moran said that picking up trash often boils down to the responsibility of individual students. Even so, he said students and teachers can help encourage awareness by spreading the message through media like SHSTV, making a quick comment in class about showing respect and not littering or just reminding friends to clean up after themselves.
“You wouldn’t leave trash around at home. Your parents wouldn’t be happy with you,” Moran said. “Not littering is a way to reflect that we have pride in our campus.”