“There is no recycling.” Many such words have passed through the halls among Wheaton Warrenville South High School students for years, leaving students to wonder if that statement is a fact or if it is false. Blue bins are placed right beside trash cans, many of which are filled by the end of the day. Teachers incentivize students to recycle, but are they on their way to a landfill or a recycling facility? Despite this issue seeming to be background noise for the bustling environment of WWS, Dr. Craig Lawrence, chair of the English department, addresses the recent development of recycling at Wheaton Warrenville South High School on Oct. 20, 2023 in an email to staff members.

Recycling is vital to the environment of Illinois and beyond, and the school’s policies are stepping stones in reducing our footprint. Jenny Whidden, a writer for the Daily Herald, remarks, “More than 90% of the plastic used in Illinois ends up in landfills. The causes are varied and complex, but the solution, environmental advocates and government authorities say, requires a blend of changing personal habits and revising public policies.” Most people overlook the piling plastic in the garbage bags of WWS’s cafeteria, but every piece has an impact on wildlife and surrounding communities. In 2020, it was sometimes viewed as cringy to say Save the turtles, but WWS and its environmental club, Verterra, are walking in the direction of a greener earth through recycling and other projects. The news of this development shines a light on what WWS could do for the environment, but just as in the past, the school will be fined if there is anything in the recycling that is contaminated, and it would end up with many items not being recycled. Michael Willuweit, a social studies teacher at WWS, spoke of the recycling system as of Oct. 4, 2023: “…when the Verterra students met with Matt Duhigg, our school’s facilities manager, he mentioned that: “If there’s any contamination in the recycling we can get fined by the garbage collectors, so most of, like, these blue bins; it just goes right into the garbage. I think we recycle cardboard; we have a cardboard dumpster. In terms of paper, I don’t think anything is recycled, even these blue bins in the hallways: plastic and aluminum don’t get recycled…”

City of Wheaton Electronics & Textile Recycling on Nov. 11, and so many more found on the DuPage County website. Refilling a water bottle at school, discussing environmental issues, looking into Wheaton Warrenville South’s environmental club, recycling mindfully, and other small actions throughout the community are all ways that you can dive into going green because as many environmentalists have said, “there is no planet B.”

Students and staff members can recycle wisely and responsibly in order to ensure the recycling of all items filling the blue bins at the end of the day.