Considering that the Blue Valley Southwest High School’s mission is to “preserve and protect” our natural resources, it is the duty of the Southwest student body to commit to a successful and superior recycling program. We have been privileged with both a brand new recycling system and an enthusiastic teacher and parent community committed to making Southwest an environmentally friendly place to be a part of. But these resources are useless without an enthusiastic student body.

Student groups like KAY club and Environmental club have taken on the task of separating and recycling the school’s paper and plastic waste, however these groups need the support of the entire school in order to recycle both quickly and efficiently.

Club members sacrifice their poppin’ Thursday and Friday afternoon social lives in order to help Southwest fulfill its mission statement. I think I speak for all of the club members when I say that I don’t mind recycling after school and helping to serve the Southwest community. This being said, the process is made incredibly difficult when fellow students and I have to sort through week-old cookies and fermenting grape Gatorade.

It is our job as both students, and citizens of a world with ever-dwindling resources, to place bottles, chewing gum, pizza crust and paper in separate waste containers. The time has come for Southwest students take on this pea-sized responsibly and help make recycling a strong tradition at Southwest.