Litter Problem Piles on Custodial Burden
January 14, 2019
According to custodians Federico Verduzco and Jesus Paniuau, there is an increasing trash problem on campus. While the Environmental club has provided a 3 bin system around campus, strategically placing this waste receptacles in high-traffice areas, custodians are still finding excessive quantities of trash discarded on the group after brunch and lunch.
In some instances, food wrappers, containers, or food itself, is left on the ground literally in the shadow of these trash cans. Vice Principal Jon Drury said, “It’s all about Campo pride and [some students] just don’t care enough to throw the trash away.”
Some Environmental club members would like the see the administration be more aggressive in policing brunch and lunch waste disposal and dole out more sever punishment to those who continue to litter.
One problem is determining who exactly is leaving the mess. With so many students and only a handful of administrators, careless individuals more often go uninterrupted. “It is kind of hard to track down those who leave trash behind, so there is more that can be done,” said Environmental club member senior Sydney Bagley.
The growing trend is a particular burden to the custodial staff. According to Paniuau, “it can take a couple of hours after school ends” to clean up all of the trash left behind by students.
The custodial staff has already been particularly challenged this year dealing with several incidents of vandalism. “We got a break from cleaning up the broken soap dispensers in the boy’s bathroom [when the culprit was caught] but there’s still a lot of trash,” said Verduzco.
Sophomore Vishal Lashkari said, “I find it disappointing that some people do not clean up after themselves at lunch.”
