Staf Editorial The Voice of the Epic

said. “Crows, squirrels and even mice can be seen on campus, scrounging for trash left out by students.”

Similarly, in recycling bins in classrooms and across campus, negligence in distinguishing between trash and recycling when disposing litter has affected the campus’s waste management as well as those responsible for it. For example, Training for Transition, a course taught by culinary arts and special education teacher Megan Miller, educates students on college and career readiness and allows them to get hands-on experience handling mixed recycling. In this class, groups of students help collect recycling from bins across campus every week, but often must dispose of litter and remove trash from recycling contaminated by other students.

“Putting trash in recycling bins creates needless work for whoever is collecting it,” Miller said. “While it’s not done with malicious intent, students should educate themselves about what can or cannot go in recycling bins to reduce unnecessary work for others. ”

People on campus such as Miller, Pelayo and those who assist them are inconvenienced by students’ negligence, causing them to spend time on issues that could be easily avoided at their origin by students taking simple steps. While school custodians are ultimately responsible for cleaning up the waste on campus, their difficulties are greatly amplified by the lack of student awareness and attempts to address these issues within the student body.

“I think encouraging each other to pick up trash goes a really long way, especially with Lynbrook students,” Assistant Principal Tara Grande said. “The biggest way to address the issue of littering is to get more student-to-student contact to raise awareness and enforce change.”

Lynbrook provides multiple methods for food preservation. For example, bins are placed near the condiments area of the cafeteria to allow students to place extra fruit for others to take if needed. Furthermore, hot food left from brunch and lunch are often donated in large quantities to the Peninsula Food Runners, an organization whose mission is to limit food waste and alleviate hunger by collecting excess food in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. As the school continues in their efforts to limit food waste on campus, it is important for students to contribute as well.

“One of the values that we’re supposed to be imparting to students while they’re here is character and citizenship,” Jackson said. “It’s realizing you have the power and efficacy to change the world that you’re living in right now by taking care of our campus and realizing that what you do has a ripple effect on other people.” the Epic voted 39 - 0 in favor of this stance with 1 abstaining.