A guide to waste disposal at AHS
Niyathi Annamaneni
Guest Writer
Waste. Trash. Garbage. A hindrance to the beauty of the commercial world. Call it what you want. But the fact remains that it is a part of our daily lives. We produce waste constantly, and usually we’d rather not think about where it goes.
But here’s another fact: the waste that we all pretend vanishes into thin air is actually accumulating and filling up the planet. The average public school generates about 483,520 lbs. of waste each day, including but not limited to, plastic bags, food waste, wrappers, paper, aluminum cans, used cosmetics, and more. In the case of our school, that’s approximately 179 lbs. of trash produced by each student on a daily basis. Pretty shocking, right? Because when we throw away that tissue or that candy wrapper, it seems like such an insignificant action. But insignificance builds and magnifies into significance. After all, atoms seem insignificant but make up the entirety of the world. Similarly, our little bits of waste add up to create enormous landfills full of non-perishable trash. So how can we reduce our impact to preserve the natural beauty around us?
I’m so glad you asked. It doesn’t have to be anything dramatic. My proposal is that each one of you stop and think before you throw something away. Think, is the something I can still use? If it’s a sheet of paper with three words on it, I’d say yes. But most importantly, I entreat you all to put your trash in the right bins. You may think this is a hard thing to do, and may have many questions. What is compostable? What goes to the landfill? What can be recycled? The answers are all on the colored bins around school. Just take one second to read them and decide where you trash goes, and maybe we can reduce our 483,520 lbs. of trash every day to a more manageable number. Remember, each little contribution adds up to make all the difference in the world. Are you with me, Eagles?
Eagle Era 