Bothell High School has a huge problem and we need to fix it. Survey’s have shown that, “School waste is up to 80 percent recyclable.” If you think about all the schools in the world that don’t recycle that is a lot of biodegradable material being hauled into landfills. Although we are just one school, we do contribute to this problem.

I have seen a lot of recyclable and compostable material being thrown away into the trash each day by people all around the school. There are 21 trash bins and only five recycle bins available to students during lunch at Bothell High School.

We don’t offer easy access to recycle bins for separating trash due to the fact that they are detached from the trash bins.

Brooke Halverson, an Earth Club member here at BHS said that, “High School is stressful and stressing out about your trash is not something anyone wants to do.” If it was easier to sort your trash maybe it wouldn’t be so stressful.

In addition to the many problems surrounding the school’s waste management system, custodial staff member Lamin Ceesay said that many kids put their trash into the recycling bins. When clueless kids put trash in the recycle bins it is all just thrown away.

The kitchen staff manager, Bev Huizenga, mentioned that, “All of our [food]boats that we put the food in are compostable.” However, no big difference can be made if the food is being thrown away in the trash, taken to a landfill and mixed in with plastic and other garbage.

“For me to compost or recycle all the kitchens (in the district) they all have to come on board,” Huizenga said.

If any change is to be made in relation to our waste disposal it will have to come from the district’s school board.

We have the power as a school to petition the district to replace each garbage bin with three bins that say compost, recycling and landfill. We also need to bring this petition to the other schools in the district.

We need to take charge of Bothell High School to get other schools in the Northshore School District on board for better waste management options. I can just imagine the difference that a few separate colored bins or labels could do.

Proper waste management should not only be implemented but taught in school from a young age as well. We need to change societies habits now to reflect better example to future generations.

Nathan Lorang, Bothell High School student