What Recycling Means to Students
Senanga Perera
D. Manning English 1301 – PL4
29 November 2012
What Recycling Means to Students Growing up in a city that takes pride in having a clean and safe environment, I often wondered what an ordinary teenager could do to make an already great place to live in even better. As soon as I saw “Join Plano Senior High School Environmental Club” flyers I realized the opportunities awaiting me. In the first meeting of the year, the club presidents made sure to inform the recruiting club members that this club required extensive work; no longer could students join the club and not contribute just for the sake of bolstering extracurricular activities for college applications. The presidents also provided the new club members with a general outline detailing possible projects for the year, including a plan to enhance recycling in the school. In light of an opportunity to help out my community, I decided to play a part in improving the recycling program at Plano Senior High School.
Inadequate teaching about recycling affects many public schools. Teachers spend a meager amount of time explaining the different facets of recycling to students, thus giving children the impression that recycling is as simple as placing waste in a blue bin, when in reality these students may not sufficiently learn how and what to recycle. In AP Environmental Science, the curriculum spends little to no time testing over recycling, despite the fact that recycling plays a major role in ecological awareness. Ironically, Environmental Science left me with an immense amount of papers in my binder by the end of the year, and in a class with no recycling bin, I ventured to the other side of the building just to recycle. Many students in my class did not throw away their recyclable materials in the right container due to the amount of effort and time that it would take. Considering the amount of materials that can be recycled, the number of un-recycled materials around the world
D. Manning English 1301 – PL4
29 November 2012
What Recycling Means to Students Growing up in a city that takes pride in having a clean and safe environment, I often wondered what an ordinary teenager could do to make an already great place to live in even better. As soon as I saw “Join Plano Senior High School Environmental Club” flyers I realized the opportunities awaiting me. In the first meeting of the year, the club presidents made sure to inform the recruiting club members that this club required extensive work; no longer could students join the club and not contribute just for the sake of bolstering extracurricular activities for college applications. The presidents also provided the new club members with a general outline detailing possible projects for the year, including a plan to enhance recycling in the school. In light of an opportunity to help out my community, I decided to play a part in improving the recycling program at Plano Senior High School.
Inadequate teaching about recycling affects many public schools. Teachers spend a meager amount of time explaining the different facets of recycling to students, thus giving children the impression that recycling is as simple as placing waste in a blue bin, when in reality these students may not sufficiently learn how and what to recycle. In AP Environmental Science, the curriculum spends little to no time testing over recycling, despite the fact that recycling plays a major role in ecological awareness. Ironically, Environmental Science left me with an immense amount of papers in my binder by the end of the year, and in a class with no recycling bin, I ventured to the other side of the building just to recycle. Many students in my class did not throw away their recyclable materials in the right container due to the amount of effort and time that it would take. Considering the amount of materials that can be recycled, the number of un-recycled materials around the world
Cited: Aparacio, Selene. “How to Boost Recycling Rates in School.” Thedailygreen. 5/17/2011. Web. 1 Nov 2012. Bernard, Sara. “How to Reduce Your School’s Eco-Footprint.” Edutopia. 10/2/2007. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. “Environmental Facts.” Ecocycle. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. Gray, Chip. “Plano Independent School District…Taking Green to a Whole New Level!” Envisionus. Web. 28.Nov.2012. Jane, Mary. “School Recycling Facts.” Ehow. Web. 1 Nov. 2012.