Wednesday March 4, The Environmental club began leading trash monitoring sessions during lunch. All students volunteered time at lunch to monitor bins of trash, recycling, and compost and to help students dispose of their trash correctly. The Environmental club noticed that on the quad, the trash, recycling, and compost bins are scattered and they wanted to change this and help make Miramonte cleaner. 

Even though it was open to all students, the main students who volunteered were from the Environmental club and  AP Environmental Science students. “I got involved through the environmental club since I’m a member and also by being in APES. I am passionate about the environment and taking action in helping our planet, starting local in our own school,” junior Saba Sheikholeslami said. 

The Environmental club leaders and their club advisor, Christina Orangio, planned this event for months. Before the monitoring , members of the club made signs for either the trash, recycling, and compost to indicate what goes where. They also scheduled a meeting on March 3 to tell the volunteers what to expect on the volunteer days. “For example, we had one meeting where we went around school and counted how many of each type of bin we had and we used a school map to reorganize the bins in a better, more helpful way for the students,” Sheikholeslami said. 

 At each tripod station there were about 2-3 students that educated students on where their trash should go. “I decided to do trash monitoring because Ms. Orangio explained how there was so much unnecessary trash entering the landfill that could easily be solved by trash monitoring. I think it’s important that we do as much as we can at local levels to help reduce the amount of trash we produce,” junior Evelyn Lavelle said. 

This event was a start and there still is much to do. “So far, I am unsure if it has been beneficial. At least for me, I see students still throwing away their trash in whichever bin they want to. It tends to be whichever one is closest to them. We need to work on taking the time to educate our students and making sure they understand why this is all important,” Sheikholeslami said. 

“I think this is a great start to making a difference for our students, as well as the community as a whole! I want this model to be the future design for trash receptacles! I also want to thank our amazing custodians who are also being trained to properly dispose of these materials and sort them if put in the wrong location.  Future goals…eliminate the amount of waste everywhere! Let Miramonte pave the way,” Associate Principal, Sara Harris said. Harris was another teacher who helped Orangio during lunch time monitoring. 

“In the future, we are hoping to have people at the trash cans at all lunches to educate Miramonte,” one of the leaders of the Environmental club, junior Sophie Kessler said.