As the school year ends, the issue of not picking up after oneself and throwing trash away persists.  Schools are known to contain litter and trash, but recently, it has gotten worse. This lack of cleanliness is the result of lazy habits, as well as a lack of overall care for our school and the custodial staff who keep it clean.

According to Earthday.org, a website dedicated to reducing environmental harm, public schools in the United States create over 14,500 tons of waste every day. With student lunches served in disposable containers, coupled with students’ negligence in throwing items away, the amount of waste increases. This ongoing issue reflects poorly on students’ morale, affecting the cleanliness of the school, and causes issues such as an increase in rodents and inconveniencing custodians.

“I see mostly in the quad, around like where a bunch of big groups sit, but you can also see it, like during passing periods, going down the halls,” senior Ruben Dominguez said. 

This consistent appearance of litter on campus damages not only the school spirit and aesthetics of the school, but also the compassion for others, specifically, our custodians, which directly reflects a lack of discipline. This lack of consideration further interferes with the work of custodians, as they are faced with tasks such as setting up for large events and fulfilling numerous work orders, according to a previous Insight article

“I feel like people are just lazy and just throw it down under where they are sitting… it’s like, common knowledge to throw your trash away,” Dominguez said.

The issue of litter on campus isn’t just a physical and aesthetic problem, it becomes a detrimental issue to the environment as littering pollutes waters, harms nearby wildlife, and encourages pests and rodents to come onto campus. 

“They don’t care, they aren’t disciplined and don’t care about the well-being of our campus because we have janitors who pick up after them, also, they probably aren’t aware of how big of a deal it is if they’re littering everywhere,”  junior Vanessa Allen said. 

Finding a solution for the lack of care on our campus and the issues that lie within the effects of litter is crucial to improve the environment and student morale.

“They should probably reprimand kids who leave their food waste on the floor, like in the areas where they’re sitting by giving them detention, because if you’re going to incentivize , you have to also simultaneously reprimand them,” Allen said.