Littering in the school parking lot is a growing issue that harms the environment and can ruin Liberty’s image to visitors. Despite available trash cans, many students still discard their waste carelessly. Addressing this issue needs collective action from the entire school community.
The trash in the Liberty High School parking lot isn’t just trash getting blown in, but also trash from the lunchroom and the Depot across the street. There are trash cans available all throughout the school parking lot, however, waste swarms the streets.
Trash collecting in the parking lot can start attracting bugs and rodents if it doesn’t get under control. Littering plastic is also bad for the environment as it doesn’t decay and can cause harm to local wildlife.
“When it rains, toxins that are in paper and plastic leach out. They get into the soil. They’re going to infiltrate into the soil, and they end up in our streams,” says Jenifer Secrist, an ecology teacher at Liberty High School.
“Litter, it’s polluting not just our landscape, but it’s allowing pollutants to get into our soils, into our waterways, which then have bigger consequences,” Secrist explains. She also described how pollution can decrease biodiversity.
“When you start to decrease biodiversity, either by having organisms consume it or it moving through the food chain, ultimately, what you’re doing is making your area less resilient to other disturbances,” said Secrist.
This issue will continue to cause problems in the environment if the littering does not stop. With climate change getting more intense, and the world getting more polluted as the years pass, the environment needs more protection than ever.
“And as we take away from biodiversity, we are setting ourselves up to be less and less resilient in a time where we need to be more and more resilient, because these big climate changes are at a maximum,” Secrist states on the topic of the negative effects of littering.
It is easy to feel powerless on this subject, but there are ways for students to help. Secrist gave multiple examples of how to help the littering situation.
“Obviously, I think more trash cans could potentially help,” explained Secrist. “ I also wish that we had a kid crew, like kids with Saturday detention could come out and clean up trash.”
Disposing of trash correctly and reducing your amount of waste can also help our surrounding environment. It would also be a good image for Liberty to have a neat, clean-looking parking lot.
By working together to keep the school parking lot clean, Liberty can create a safer, more welcoming environment for everyone. Keeping the parking lot clean can help lead to a promising future.
