By Elora Brow
Online Opinion Editor
Mira Costa High School and the rest of the Manhattan Beach Unified School District is considered an eco-friendly school, but the lack of accountability in sustainable practice casts doubts on whether the title is deserved. There are many improvements to be made on the campus regarding environmental issues and the students and staff on campus need to become aware of the changes they can make.
As much as Costa takes pride in their status of being an eco-friendly school, it is hard to do so when students leave their garbage scattered across campus instead of making an effort to throw it away in either the landfill or recycling bin Mira Costa Vice Principal Heather Hofreiter. said Student’s lack of care with cleanliness negatively affects Costa’s campus and defeats the school’s purpose of having both a garbage and recycling bin.
According to Hofreiter, Mira Costa needs to focus more on recycling and “going green” this year because the school has fallen behind on its normal behavior of environmental actions. It is important for the school to take action because if Costa is considered to be an eco-friendly campus then it needs to be able to live up to the expectations that come with being environmentally conscious.
According to Hofreiter, Costa wants to add a yellow bin next to the landfill and recycling cans for decomposable goods. Adding another can would be beneficial to the school because it would give Costa the opportunity to have less garbage go to waste and would hopefully promote the idea of throwing away excess of food instead of leaving it on the ground.
Mira Costa science teacher Trevor Oystrick said that if teachers do not personally take out the recycling to the recycling bins then the custodians will just throw out the recyclables with the garbage instead of properly separating the two. If Costa has two separate bins then it is important for the two bins to be properly used to their full advantage, otherwise the use of these cans goes to waste and defeats the purpose of recycling. Manager of maintenance, Jeff Mullikin is unavailable to comment.
The School Library Journal’s reasons for schools going green.
Adding a club that focuses on recycling and positive environmental actions could be very helpful to Mira Costa because there are many students who are passionate about this problematic topic Hofreiter said. The club could promote a clean campus by putting up posters and holding assemblies. This club would be helpful to Costa because it would not only help the students who are passionate about the topic make a change, but it would also help keep the campus clean.
Improving Costa’s Green Program will not only help the school, but also the environment as a whole. Adding a third bin for biodegradable goods would benefit the environment by creating less waste and also hopefully encourage students to pick up their scraps of food rather than leaving it on the ground. Creating a club would be a great form of promotion for the going green topic and would be able to help spread the word about it.
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