Have you ever gone to place paper in the recycling and discover a half-eaten sandwich, potato chip bag, or something else that makes you wonder “why do I even try?” At Beth Tfiloh, sometimes the recycling bin has more trash than the trash bin right next to it. There is even a rumor going around that none of the recycling gets taken out. To get an official statement on the status of recycling at BT, we talked to Mark Kaiser, director of facilities at BT. He said that, “If the recycling is contaminated, the recycle collection bin from the trash company charges us a fee as ‘trash’ removal and treats it as such.” In other words, the rumor is partially right but it’s our fault if we pollute the recycling with our trash. 

     Some students at BT are working to change this. Jeremy A. ‘25, head of the environmental club, told me that the environmental club surveyed the school to determine what rooms needed recycling bins. They sent the survey to administrators and are now in the process of getting bins for each room. He also says that the environmental club is focused on educating students and “raising awareness that people know what goes in the recycling bin and what does not.” 

     In addition to improving the recycling program, Jeremy said that the environmental club was focused on “empowering students to start their own initiatives. Having fundraisers, stories, raising awareness about these issues, and really not just having this come from the club heads, but having the students come with their own ideas.” If students knew what was happening and how we are harming the planet voluntarily, they might stand up for this problem more and try to stop it.