You’re daydreaming in class, staring out the window and you snap out of it at the sight of your peers lugging around huge plastic bins and trash bags around campus. If you’ve ever wondered who’s responsible, it’s science teacher Angie Olivares and education specialist Vincent Green.
These staff members enlist the help of students in the special education program and Olivares’ Integrated Science 2 and AP Environmental Science classes to collect and empty recyclables from classrooms. For participating in the program, IS2 students receive volunteer hours and APES students earn a small portion of their required field hours.
“We do some enviro news [APES’ class warmups] on how human activity negatively impacts our environment, so I think this is a great way of starting to make the changes that need to happen on a larger scale here on campus,” junior Elyse Wong said. “It really relates to what we learn in class, so it’s enjoyable.”
The program began in 1999 with Environment Club (which will be returning in spring), advised by Olivares. She proposed the idea to the administration to help both the school community and the environment.
“We were able to start it with cardboard boxes,” Olivares said. “The money we collected from doing the paper recycling … we actually got that money and bought all the dumpsters and bins that we placed around campus.”
With Green’s support, the special education department now handles cans and bottles while Olivares focuses on paper recycling. Teachers are active in the program, e-mailing to get their recyclables collected. The collected materials are then sent to local recycling centers, with the proceeds split between the special education department and the district.
Olivares plans to continue leading these sustainability efforts for the rest of her time at Northwood.
“If we don’t do something about it now, it’s just going to get bigger and bigger,” Olivares said. “And one day, when you guys are my age, you don’t want an ocean full of trash.”
Students who are interested in contributing to the program can contact [email protected].
