Recycling can help schools go green
Illustration by Macy Linton
April 26, 2010 • written by Lauren Haley
Filed under Opinions
With Earth Day right around the corner, some students at Bartlett are wondering how our school can go green.
Although not everyone believes in global warming, recycling still helps in a lot of ways. For instance, a study conducted at Ivan Allen College and Duke University shows that for every dollar spent on making houses or commercial buildings more energy efficient, there is $2.25 generated for jobs and other economic activity. Basically, being eco-friendly (recycling) can help with unemployment and the economy.
According to the Clean Air Council, each day the U.S. throws away enough trash to fill up 63,000 garbage trucks. That number would shrink enormously just by recycling paper products, considering the average American uses 650 pounds of paper per year. Also, one ton of paper from recycled pulp saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, 4,200 kilowatt hours, 390 gallons of oil, and prevents 60 pounds of air pollutants.
Recycling can help the planet in numerous ways so why would one not want to recycle? It is our planet, after all.
Recycling is a pretty obvious answer, but how? Putting a recycling bin in every room would be ideal; however, with recycling bins ranging from $7-$50, it would not be so easy for Shelby County to furnish every classroom with a recycling bin.
Since some teachers have multiple trash cans in their rooms, they could easily designate each trash can for different recyclables (one for paper, and one for plastics), then students could help out the environment.
Even for those teachers who do not have extra trash cans to spare, cardboard boxes could be used for throwing away ‘to-be-recycled’ paper.
The only problem with this method would be getting the trash to the recycling bin, which resides just behind the Bartlett Public Library down the street.
So, what to do?
Because the janitorial staff has so much to do already, students and teachers would have to take it upon themselves to take their recyclable trash to the bin.
Teachers could ask any eco-friendly students in their sixth period class to volunteer to take the trash to the bin at the end of each week. Students could even switch off days or take turns going to the bin.
So, although we do not have a recycling program, or recycling bins in every classroom there are still ways to be nice to the environment, even at school.
Every little bit counts, so help Mother Earth out!
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