Dear Editor:

Twenty-two percent of Americans admit to not having enough information about recycling, and 18% are confused about which items are recyclable. I believe recycling is an important part of our everyday lives and has the potential to save our environment. Any way you look at it, recycling has its healthy and beneficial perks (Bell).

I attend Boothbay Region High School and, unfortunately, recycling seems to be absent and has been even when I was a freshman. There have been countless times where I've seen the recycling bins being mixed in with trash along with the rest of the bins in the building.

I recently spoke with BRHS Principal Tricia Campbell on the topic of getting community service hours for recycling, to maybe spark some motivation in the students. She said that this could be a future possibility. I think that if we were to start systematic recycling in our school, it would be good for the environment and our school.

Recycling in our school could give us some extra funds to help with field trips, extra expenses, and other activities or supplies that involve money. Our BRHS Drama Club currently collects the bottles from the theater and uses the extra funds to support the club and its activities. We also have a group of students who collect bottles for food expenses that contribute to them trying to learn how to cook with Mrs. Carter. They use said money to buy groceries for these activities. These examples are the only recycling happening in our school now.

We’ve had a recycling club before, but it disbanded due to graduating students and the lack of motivation to continue it. I think having a student recycling club backed by administrative supervision is our best bet to having recycling present in our school. The school could keep the funds and the environment wouldn’t suffer by having our leftover cans, plastic, etc. be shoved into a landfill.

Recycling is very important for our world, and with the rapidly changing climate, it’s important to bring recycling back to BRHS.

Work cited: Bell, S. (n.d.). "50 Interesting Recycling Facts. Retrieved from https://www.roadrunnerwm.com/blog/50-interesting-recycling-facts

Nataleigh Blackman

junior at BRHS