Papers and Plastics: Examining the myth of recycling on campus and around the world

While blue recycling bins stand in almost every classroom, evidence of their usefulness remains evasive. A large amount of paper and other recyclables leave campus in trash cans along with students’ food scraps, plastic bags, and dried-up pens, heading straight for the landfill. In the evenings after school, contracted custodial crews collecting trash often throw materials from classroom recycling...

Atlanta residents, like students, raise concerns about waste management. When someone throws a plastic water bottle into a recycling bin, it is easy to believe it travels to a factory and magically transforms into something new. But for much of the recyclable waste thrown out by Americans, this is not the case. Studies from the National Resource Defense Council and other non- governmental organ...

At Grady, teachers recommend their own solutions to the school’s waste management and sustainability dilemma. Yale notes that every small effort counts. She tries to save paper by printing documents on smaller pieces of paper and making an exact number of copies. Sometimes, she joins astronomy teacher Ben Sellers in personally transporting paper down to the recycling dumpster. “We ca...

Recycling is ingrained into our morals as a fundamental responsibility. The triangle made of three white arrows signify everyday citizens helping the earth, but that practice might be working against the very thing we are trying to save. It seems counterintuitive, and the thought of tossing perfectly folded cardboard or squeaky clean plastics into the regular trash may even cause physical dis...