Dear Students,

We have several wonderful clubs and programs at our school. I feel like these clubs make a great difference. However, by starting a new program — a recycling program — at our school, we would be able to stop wasting so much paper and actually put it to good use. I think our teachers would be on board with this idea, too.

By recycling at our school, we would be saving a lot of paper considering 50% of all waste in buildings and workplaces is paper. If this paper were to be recycled instead, we could save 2,800 sheets of paper per person each year. Did you know that Americans now use about 31.5 million tons of printing and writing paper each year? This means that each person uses about 600 pounds, according to “Green Schools Initiative.” By having a recycling program at our school, we could really make a difference.

We can achieve this plan by starting out small. Recycling bins cost an average of $13-15, and we would need a bin for each classroom on campus. However, my suggestion is that we use cardboard boxes instead while we fund money for recycling. That way we are actually recycling a box, too! This could be the first step to a paper waste-free school, and, who knows, maybe other schools in the county would catch on.

There is no reason not to start a recycling program at our school. It would only benefit us, and it would make a huge difference for our home — our earth. I hope you will consider joining me in this movement.

Sincerely,

Nelly Julian

About the author

I’m Nelly, a sophomore here at Etowah. I wrote this piece because I felt like we as a student body could be doing a lot more for our environment. We say that we care, but we don’t do anything. There are real steps we can take to help reverse the damage that we’ve already done to the earth. In my free time, I love playing soccer.