Recycling, the action that separates people who claim to be worried about global warming and the people who actually are, is important now more than ever. With warnings of a due date of destruction not so far in the distance, it often feels that many don’t heed the warnings of Al Gore. It seems that no one is recycling except for Americans that have both been educated on the effects climate change, and believe they must take part in preventing it (because just believing the existence of climate change isn’t enough to convince one to recycle). With all the resources available to us it is essential that we start recycling at Fremd.

      Throughout my high school career many teachers and students were unaware of the fact that the school recycled, which led me to believe they didn’t recycle. This is unfortunate because many students use the schools alleged lack of recycling as their excuse to not recycle as well; but know that we’re all aware of the fact we have no excuses.

One of the easiest things we can do is start with recycling in class. Lamentably, not all classrooms contain blue recycling bins. However, they are located throughout the school for the purpose of recycling white paper. Unfortunately, many students will use them to dispose of trash or items other than white paper. The problem with putting normal trash in the recycling bins is that it leads to none of the paper being recycled because it has been contaminated.

Aside from paper, the school makes an effort to recycle many other items. Building and Grounds manager, Steve Balsley, mentions items that are also recycled.

“We recycle cardboard boxes from the kitchen, light bulbs, ballast (a type of electrical unit), scrap metal, batteries, old gym equipment, and some plastic bottles,” Balsley said.

Unfortunately, we can’t recycle all our plastic because it has It’s also not practical to recycle, as we don’t have the space and resources to sort through it.

“Nobody wants plastic,” Balsley stated.

The recycling service we use, Advanced Disposals, sees no benefit in recycling plastic as it has no weight, and is unprofitable to recycle.

It would be preferable if the school explicitly stated this information so that students could see that any efforts they made to recycle would be appreciated. Regardless, it can be said that we should all follow the example Fremd has set for us. Recycling is not an action where we can directly see the fruits of our labor, but it is essential that we understand how important it is.

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