Trash Talk: A call for reflection

The trash issue on campus is getting worse. Students are not cleaning up after themselves on the field and at the commons. 

 Trash on campus has always been under the radar for students, even though it’s our responsibility, and there are many reasons, to keep our campus clean. One reason is to keep a safer environment and let everybody enjoy eating at a clean table rather than one with trash and food everywhere. There have been assemblies where Head of Middle School, Jon Wimbish, has addressed the importance of not leaving trash behind for others to clean

“It’s a respect for the place,” Wimbish said. “Spaces that you care about, you want to keep clean, and I think when you don’t it says something to the rest of the community and people coming here to visit.” 

Different consequences have been given over time when students have not held up their part of keeping the campus clean. Sometimes the fields are banned from use during lunch time, other times, students have been banned from hanging out near their lockers during lunch.

“This year people have kind of forgotten that the field is banned to eat on, and the trash is only getting worse” Aaron Chung ’28 said. 

Ninth grade dean, Karen Fukushima confirmed that the field has in fact, always been banned from students eating on it.  But it seems like we all need yearly reminders.  Cleaning up after ourselves is essential, and while walking through the school, there is a sight of trash on many tables, on the field, and sometimes even in classrooms. Students need to care about order because it creates a better learning space for themselves and others around them, as well as a cleaner and more desirable environment. 

When Ryan Chen ’28 was asked about how he feels about trash on campus, he said, 

“The trash on campus affects me because the trash on the tables makes me feel sorry for the people who have to clean it up after us, when we should just clean up our own mess ourselves”.