The Environmental Club went to the courtyard to pick up litter on Tuesday, March 18. None of the members expected to find much litter except for a few stray items that blew from trashcan. However, what club members found differed greatly from their expectations. Fellow club members and I have reached the consensus that all students need to care for our school grounds better.

After nearly an hour of picking up trash, the Environmental Club filled four trash bags with student litter.  From the pine trees lining the fence of the sports field to the bushes lining the main school building, members found trash in every corner. For some reason, a plethora of trash found itself in the middle crevices of bushes and the knots of trees — rather unnatural places for trash to be found unless someone stuck the trash there.

The number of discarded lunch trays found shocked us. Students carelessly leave their trays to the elements even though there are trashcans just a few steps away from courtyard benches. Other litter items the Environmental Club found included a belt, several medical wraps, bottles, sponge pieces and Halloween decorations.

With four or more trashcans occupying the area, there is no excuse for the amount of litter found. We need to work take better care of our school grounds. The earth deserves better treatment. Much of the trash found could have easily ended up in a drain pipe and eventually made its way into our water supply. The planet provides us our environment, and without a healthy environment, we endanger our livelihoods.

Students can take part in the initiative for cleaner school grounds by simply picking up their trash, encouraging others to pick up theirs and dumping any stray trash they find on the ground — regardless of who put it there.