Hundreds of pounds of paper are being thrown away by students every day thanks to the elimination of classroom recycling bins. Nothing has been installed in order to replace this essential program. How can we change this?
Throughout the years at Harding, every classroom has been provided with a designated recycling bin. However, those recycling bins have recently been removed this year.
The bins were removed very abruptly, with the teachers of Harding having no previous knowledge of their dismissal.
This situation has transpired due to the fact that one of Harding’s teachers, Ms. Cain, retired last year. She served as the spearhead and organizer of the recycling project, and her class was responsible for the bins.
Having available recycling bins is not required by the county or state, so it was her own personal responsibility. Once she retired, there was nobody left to continue her program.
So, what can we do to encourage students to be more conscientious about our environment? Well, by restarting the recycling program.
Although a small contribution, having those recycling programs, collectively, does have an impact. Not only does it educate students by incorporating recycling into their daily routines, but also allows one less piece of paper to litter our declining environment—which sounds like a pretty good thing to me.
Now, teachers, it’s in your hands now. How should we take responsibility for our influence on our environment? Who can step up and reinstate the recycling program?
It really is sad that we no longer have the recycling project, because it allowed our students work experience and some of the volunteer hours they need in order to graduate.