As the bell for last period rings all the students scurry to class, inconsiderately leaving their trash strewn across tables and messily scattered along the courtyard. Students expect school administration and janitors to pick up after them, but in reality the trash gets blown through the school and takes part in the destruction of our environment. According to oceancrusaders.org, it is now believed that there are 5.25 billion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Each year, roughly 38 billion water bottles end up in US landfills, causing an overflow of the harmful material (cupanion). Imagine how many water bottles are in landfills throughout the world. Although we aren’t super close to the beach, your decision to leave your trash behind can negatively affect birds and the Everglades. Just leaving some food wrappers out can assist in the planet’s biggest issues like water pollution, solid waste pollution, and soil degradation. 

Instead of walking past piles of trash sitting on picnic tables, grab it and throw it away. Although it may be unsanitary, you can always wash your hands before class. For some reason, West Boca doesn’t provide recycle bins in the courtyard, so if you have recyclable materials, please bring them to your classroom where most West Boca teachers have recycling bins. If you don’t clean up after yourself, other students and staff will have to which is unfair to them and damaging to the environment. Our planet is already beginning to die; for the sake of our planet and ecosystems please do everyone a favor and dispose of your trash properly.