TALKING TRASH

AFTER LUNCH ONE DECEMBER DAY, seniors Deepa Bhargava and Luke Cohen grabbed trash from High School classrooms, the Forum, the Internet Cafe, the bathrooms, the library, and staff offices–a sample size that they used to extrapolate how much waste GDS generates.

The exercise was part of a broader effort by Deepa and Luke to secure environmental certification for GDS through the National Wildlife Federation’s Eco-Schools USA program. The program requires participating students to conduct audits in at least three environmental focus areas (or “pathways”) at their schools and come up with action plans to address them.

For Deepa and Luke, the trash audit was the last of four. The duo had already assessed the School’s water, transportation, and energy pathways as part of an independent study class earlier in the school year. As of February, they were working on their action plans and preparing to submit their application so they could gain the first certification in a three-tiered process.

“I hope we’ll get an answer on the certification before we graduate,” Luke said. “It’s cool to leave a lasting legacy, something that can be continued and give us a baseline for progress.”

Deepa and Luke are co-heads of the School’s student-led Environmental Task Force, which has wanted to pursue Eco-Schools certification for years. “But the task force never had enough dedicated time to get it done,” Deepa said. “Luke and I realized we had to have an independent study class in order for this to really happen.”

Some of the data collection was easy, such as gathering information from the School’s water bills for the water audit. Other tasks were more time-consuming, such as rummaging through the garbage and sorting the trash.

“The amount of garbage was not surprising,” said Chris Oster, GDS transportation marketing associate and faculty advisor for the project. “What shocked us was the amount of stuff that was wrongfully dumped into recycling bins.”