I’d like to think my family lives in a “green” household, or at least we try to. Though we’re not die-hard energy conservers, we attempt to do our fair share to help the environment. Growing up, my parents always emphasized the importance of the three “R’s”: Reduce, reuse, and recycle. So whenever possible, we try to do that. Among some things, we turn the lights off when we leave a room, we recycle as much as we can, and we use reusable cloth bags at the grocery store. I even remember an instance in elementary school where I brought home some of my classmates’ cans because there were no recycling bins in our classroom.

So when I first heard the Go Green Club was holding a fundraiser to purchase solar panels for our school, I was ecstatic. Bringing modern technology into AHS is a great way to conserve energy and perhaps save money on the school’s electricity bill. However, after pondering and asking around, I realized that our cafeteria doesn’t even have recycling bins, though we serve numerous beverages that come in cans and bottles. There used to be a large recycling bin in the cafeteria, so it makes no sense to not have one anymore.

According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, more than 60 percent of what is currently discarded as trash could be recycled or composted. AHS should stop adding to that statistic. From what I have observed, there are recycling bins in most other classrooms across the school, so why should a high-traffic area for recyclables like the cafeteria be an exception?

As a school, we shouldn’t take a step back with energy conservation. Though adding solar panels will be a large leap forward, we can’t forget about the smaller items that are still important. Just a small action like putting a plastic bottle in a recycling bin will make a difference in the Earth’s future.