The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) will no longer provide recycling services for LAUSD schools. This leaves recycling measures up to the district to find a private company to do so.
“For schools, we have our own trash system,” assistant principal Ms. Anabel Bonney said. “The city is saying that LAUSD has to have its own recycling system.”’
This means that on top of the budget cuts that the school has had over recent years, now the district is also expected to fund a new recycling company.
“The city’s blue recycling bins are intended for homes, so the city will not be providing schools with them anymore,” Ms. Bonney said.
This is majorly due to the fact that the recycling bins are for homeowners with minimal waste, unlike schools with large populations.
With the city’s blue bins having been removed, the responsibility falls on custodians to separate recyclable items into a bin.
“The only thing that’s going to change is how we recycle,” Ms. Bonney said.
The special education program actively works to collect recyclables from every class in an effort to benefit their program.
“You’ll see the students walking around and going to a classroom or office and collecting the recyclables,” she said. “Then when they do their weekly committee community-based instruction, they take it to the recycling plant and get money for their program.”
With a background in science, Ms. Bonney understands the importance of recycling and remaining as close to sustainable methods as possible. This accounts for why the school uses recycled water and utilizes wood chips from cut-down trees to provide nutrients for the garden.
“We all need to do our part, trying to preserve as much of the environment as we can,” she said. “We try to recycle every time we have a chance.”
The school prioritizes conserving greenery, as well as water in an effort to be more eco-friendly.
The LAUSD website claims to reduce Water Consumption by 20% by 2024 from 2014.
This is one of the goals that LAUSD is working towards, accounting for the reason that our school uses recycled water to water the grass on the quad.
“The city has guidelines about the water but we use recycled water,” she said. “Every time you see the sprinklers go off it’s not regular water, you don’t drink that water. There are signs on the faucets that say to not drink this water because it is recycled water which helps us maintain our school’s greenery.”
The school does not currently have a recycling method for recyclables other than paper.
“We need to have someone that’s going to go and collect it,” she said. “We also need to train and educate our students that certain things may not be recyclable.”
Although there is no club currently on campus that could focus on promoting the recycling of plastic bottles and more recyclable mediums, Ms. Bonney says that the school will continue to do its best to recycle despite the limitations imposed by the city.
The abridged version of this article appeared in the Spring 2024 print edition. This is an uncut version.
