Photo Essay – Recycling at Platteview: Myth or Reality?

Sylvia Dierking and Claire Kallhoff
October 14, 2019

Blue bins with the signature three-arrow recycling sign bring up questions as Platteview students and staff wonder if we truly do recycle. And if we do not, why?

Platteview science teacher and advocate for recycling, Mrs. Donner, adds, “Recycling stands for the last of the 3 Rs. ‘Reduce Reuse Recycle.’ If I haven’t reduced or reused the item, then it must be recycled to combat some of the materials that are sent to the landfill.”

According to Springfield-Platteview custodian staff, our school does recycle but faces drawbacks: “People in the building often contaminate the [recyclable] trash with food items, used tissues, styrofoam, and glass.” Therefore, much potential recycling ends up in the landfill instead. Recycling at Platteview High school is available, but because of wrong items ending up in the trash, it is not used to the fullest.

Senior Sylvia Dierking tips an empty recycling bin upside-down during advisory in Mr. Schlieman’s classroom. With all of the recycling bins in classrooms, it can be difficult to understand why students and teachers do not recycle more.
After eating a lunch brought from home, senior Daytin Inserra-Cunningham has lots of trash left over. Some students bring their lunches in disposable containers, which contributes to waste thrown away at Platteview.
Senior Tori Allen throws away trash after lunch. Items disposed of include napkins, a paper plate, and plastic silverware. Mrs. Donner said, “I know we have plastic containers and utensils in our cafeteria and the clear water bottle policy, so plastic is used. Since we can’t reduce or reuse some of these items, the next step would be to recycle.”
During the investigation into waste at Platteview, senior Claire Kallhoff separates recyclable items and trash from a cafeteria trash can. One obstacle to recycling is the extra fee associated with the service.
A pile of trash sorted from the recyclable items located in a cafeteria trash can shows some common items that are either too messy or more difficult to recycle. Each day, five bags of trash from the cafeteria, two from the new commons, and one from the old commons are thrown away.
Recyclables separated from items that should be thrown away shows that the amount of waste in our school could be greatly reduced if a program for plastic recycling was put in place at Platteview. In the meantime, students with an interest in recycling can bring items to Mrs. Donner who said she takes “recycling home from my students and my classroom.”
Labels, like the one on this juice box, remind people to recycle. Ironically, this box was thrown away because there is currently no way to recycle it at school.
In the dumpster outside, Kallhoff and Dierking find boxes thrown away with the trash. Two containers away, is a bin for recycling boxes.
Platteview currently recycles boxes and paper products, and the bin for recycling is relatively full of boxes. According to Mrs. McKnight, Papillion Sanitation, Platteview’s waste service, picks up both the trash and recycling.
By recycling, Platteview helps say yes to a brighter and cleaner future for the students it educates. Through creating more awareness about items that can be recycled, Platteview hopes to increase the amount of items that are recycled and limit what is put in landfills.

Breaking the myth surrounding recycling at Platteview informs students and staff on what can and cannot be recycled. This ensures that correct items are recycled and increases the awareness and desire to recycle. According to Mrs. Donner, “The amount of micro-plastics that are contaminating our waterways is now popping up in our bloodstream. These chemicals can have devastating effects on our health!” Recycling is not simply a choice in the present; it is a decision that will affect all lives in the years ahead. Here at Platteview, it is time to step up and say yes to a brighter future.