The NVRHS district implemented a new recycling policy that modifies the Save Our Planet Earth (SOPE) club’s recycling initiative. According to club advisor Steve Ahad, students must now “discard all plastic recyclables in the blue hallway barrels instead of the blue bins in the classrooms”, which have been removed.

SOPE president senior Jillian O’Keeffe stated that SOPE “used money in [their] budget for green recycling bins to color code the recycling process: green for paper and blue for plastic.” However, with the new policy, the blue bins have been removed from the classrooms, and the new green bins are for recycled paper.

The implementation of the new policy is for “sanitary purposes,” Ahad explained. Most of the time, students would leave half-filled coffee cups in the bins, and the excess moisture would “leak and attract bacteria or bugs.” On the other hand, “recycling plastic requires for [students] to finish the drink, cap it, then put it in the bin,” which often times students would neglect to do. Having designated bins in the hallway that are cleaned out regularly will prevent bugs or bacteria in the classrooms.

This new policy will have an impact on NVOT’s recycling initiative. Ahad stated, “Plastic bins get filled up the most in classrooms, and we recycle the most amount of product within those plastic bins.” He fears that “when kids are required to bring the plastics to the hallway, they might not necessarily do so.”

O’Keeffe reminded, “For now, students should continue to discard paper in the green bins and remember to look for the blue bins in the hallway for plastic recycling,” as SOPE hopes that students will adjust to the recycling changes and continue to help NVOT’s sustainability initiative.