According to The Nevada Independent, on average American schools throw away 530,000 tons of waste per year. The negative impact this has on the environment is significant.
“I would say the school has a pretty substantial effect on the environment. Especially with the black top in general, which the school has a lot of,” science teacher Samuel White said.
The air conditioning and lighting seem to be a key part of climate change “The AC units running year round, not to mention the lights,” White said. “If the teachers don’t turn off the lights then the lights are just constantly on, which is pretty substantial.”
Keeping a building as large as Alton High School environmentally healthy can cost lots of effort. For example, time, money and resources.
“The day to day efforts to keep a building this large is substantial,” White said. “The amount of maintenance, continuous traffic throughout the building and the amount of printing things and deliveries.”
Alton High School has recycled wasted food in the past, but after people weren’t sorting it correctly and budget cuts limited resources for the program, they had to get rid of it. Now the members of AFJROTC program help with environmental efforts by collecting cans and bottles for recycling.
The school’s carbon footprint could lead to a bigger problem, and one that is not being ignored entirely. “The school does try to do something to help it, but [the problem] is pretty substantial,” White said.
One solution: “Solar is going up all over,” White said. This can be a big help to energy waste, cheaper electric bills, improving air quality and fighting global warming.
“Solar has its own drawbacks, but we have a lot of empty space on our roof so that would work,” White added. Not only solar power but even bringing recycling back and reducing the amount of waste Alton High produces as a school could be a big help.
According to Calstart, a traditional diesel school bus will emit 90 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere over the course of its 12 year life span. CO2 not only affects the environment through climate change, but also air quality. Diesel exhaust is a pollutant and negatively impacts the health of students.
“If the school really promoted a carpooling effort, that would really help,” White said. Another option would be securing Illinois EPA grants available to help fund the switch to electric buses. Thus making it better for kids’ health coming to and from school everyday, while also benefiting the environment as well.
So how can students help with this? It all starts on recycling and sorting.
