As society becomes more environmentally conscious in response to the threat of climate change, CHS students and staff alike will likely have to reconsider their waste amount and recycling habits.

According to USA Today, the United States currently ranks third in the world in waste per capita, producing 230 million tons of waste per year with less than a quarter being recycled. Moreover, New Jersey produces about 22 million tons of waste annually, with 60.5% of the waste produced being recycled, according to the Department of Environmental Protection. 

At CHS, the school’s staff works to minimize waste production, despite the amount of trash created by a population of its size. 

Lorraine Quigley, a member of the lunch staff at CHS, explained that they attempt to keep track of how much food they need from Wall High School, who provides the lunch service for the school, in order to limit leftovers and trash.

“If there is [extra food] and it is refrigerator stuff, we’ll serve it the next day and then get rid of it…usually we sell everything.”

In addition to the lunch staff, CHS students also try to minimize their waste production. Sophomore Madeline Cheevers of Little Silver said that she is continually striving to be better with recycling.

“I always recycle whatever I can when there’s a bin, but sometimes I’m lazy and definitely don’t do it,” Cheevers said. “I definitely want to recycle more though and try to waste less because I care about the planet.”

When asked about the issues of recycling and garbage at CHS, head custodian Ray Petersen stated a lack of concern about recycling makes the process ineffective.  

“I mentioned to Mr. Gleason that it’s hardly worth the effort because there’s all matter of non-recyclables in the recycle buckets.”

While CHS certainly appears to have a problem with this, Peterson feels that more awareness and effort is enough to resolve this issue. 

“I know there are people who really care about recycling and I do too, I make an effort to recycle myself, so if there are people out there who care about it maybe they would make an effort to educate others about what’s acceptable and what’s not.”

This issue is what causes recycling to sometimes be ineffective in waste management as the amount of concern presented by people towards properly disposing of their trash will determine the effectiveness of this process as well as its impact on the environment. 

Those who wish to learn more about what garbage is recyclable and what is not, Peterson suggested simply looking up their town’s website to see this information laid out clearly.

“I went to Wall Township’s recycling site and I took a couple of screen captures of a list of items from their site that are not recyclable,” Petersen said. “I think a little bit of education is in order and maybe a little bit of common sense and care.”