Erin Bailie
Erin Bailie gives examples of how her school could make some environmental improvements.
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I shake my head in disgust every day in my school’s cafeteria. Sure, I think the food is gross, but what really makes me angry is the way the food is served: on polystyrene trays. The used trays pile high in the trash cans by the end of my lunch — and won’t decompose when they reach the landfill. Even worse, chemicals from the trays can seep into our food and may cause cancer. Anything would be better than these foam trays.
Our schools need to reduce their environmental impact. Schools are incredibly wasteful and it seems that for every step we take forward at home, we take two steps back once we arrive at school.
My school is probably like most others — not very green
Here’s another example. My school wastes a lot of paper. While notes, quizzes and worksheets are essential to learning, they often are thrown away at the end of the school year. Fortunately, my school has a recycling program in place… but we could do more.
I bring a sweater to school year round, because most of my classes are so cold. We do have windows — we should use them.
Schools can teach us by example. We need to do everything we can, everywhere we go, to use our resources wisely.
