That’s right – if you have not heard yet, or seen the green posters around the school, Waterford High School does, in fact, recycle. But only if all of you participate!

The issue we currently have is that the student body is not entirely informed of the recycling system. Students are throwing trash in the recycling bins, and if the custodians see trash in the recycling bin, they throw everything in that bin into the dump. Even if it is one little tissue. That might seem preposterous, but the custodians do not want to salvage the bottles and paper by picking out a used tissue.

If you see a blue bin, it is a recycling bin. To know what can be recycled, read one of the green or yellow posters taped up across the school. It is simple: paper, empty bottles, and cardboard can be recycled. Anything else should be tossed out.

Some students see how well recycling has been going at the school. Senior Ashley Thibeau said, “I think some of the students do recycle and some of them don’t. It’s like half an half. For next year, I hope teachers will enforce recycling more so that all the students at WHS will recycle.”

Junior Jason Huang believes that, currently, recycling is only a second thought for students. “There have been many times when I saw students throw papers away in trash cans when there were recycling bins nearby,” he explained. “Students want to spend the least amount of time to throw something away. I only hope that next year, people will take the few seconds to recycle, and that recycling bins will be more accessible and noticeable in school.”

This year, Mr. Hauser, Mr. Thurlow, and I plan to make recycling bins more apparent and to make the student body more informed about recycling here at school. Recycling bins and trash cans will be side by side so students and faculty can put the right objects in the right bins. All it takes is tossing the trash in the black bins and the recyclables in the blue.

It’s all about school spirit, Lancers! Show your spirit by keeping the school environmentally friendly!