Today, humans are producing more trash than ever before. The average person generates 4.3 pound of waste every day. This number is gradually rising every year due to humans’ ignorance and oblivious attitude towards the trash that they produce on a daily basis.

The growing amount of trash being produced is apparent even on our school campus. Each day, Yorba Linda High School is left with food, plastic, and paper left around campus. Because not all students are not throwing their trash away after lunch, these small pieces of trash are adding up to a greater mass on campus. The accumulation of trash on our campus is displeasing to the eye and causes a great amount of unnecessary work for our school janitors. Therefore, students should help keep our school look clean and make our staff’s jobs easier by simply throwing away any trash they create.

Angela Chuang (10) commented, “I cringe seeing all the trash around the school and try to pick it up. There are certain areas at our school that have piles of trash and it is disgusting. We should at least throw away our own trash!” Certainly, Mustangs like Angela are angered by the fact that many do not pick up after their own trash.

All around the world, people are continuously trying to figure out new ways to handle the great amount of garbage that is being created. For example, New York City has found that bugs and spiders are keeping their streets clean by actually eating the garbage. After much research, officials have found that the critters eat up to the equivalent of 60,000 hot dogs a year in just one area around New York. This means the insects can consume about 2,100 pounds of food each year along Broadway and West Street. This new study makes us appreciate the work of these insects; without them, that mass of food would have to be cleaned up by humans.

Additionally, our community does not have an effective recycling system. While we only have one bin for all of our recycled materials, cities like San Francisco now have bins separating paper, plastics, glass, and metals. San Francisco now reuses 80% of its waste. This is a remarkable advancement towards our our country’s goal to lessen the amount of waste that is created from trash. Hopefully, our community will develop better recycling programs as time goes on.

Clearly, the the amount of trash that is being wasted around the world is effecting the daily lives of individuals. With the help of our school and community, we can help keep our world clean by throwing away trash and recycling materials.