More trash left on tables than tossed
September 23, 2008
Filed under Features
This three-part series has been written over the past few weeks to outline just how much of a trash problem we have at LHS.
This last part of the series is specifically centered around the cafeteria.
Two weeks ago, the newspaper staff took a scale and weighed out the trash left on the tables and floors, versus the trash that was actually thrown away in the trash cans.
In first lunch, 30 lbs. was thrown away and 144 lbs. was left on the tables and floors.
In second lunch, 69 lbs. was thrown away, and 59 lbs. was left on the tables and floors.
In third lunch, 86 lbs. was thrown away, and 96 lbs. was left on the tables and floors.
The total weight of the trash thrown away was 185 lbs. from all of the lunches combined, and 299 lbs. left on the tables and floors.
The grand total of all the trash combined was 484 lbs. in one day.
This also is not completely accurate of how much trash is left in the cafeteria daily because Chick-fil-a was being sold by the H.O.S.A. Club on the day of the sampling.
So on any given regular week, there can be more than 2,500 pouonds of trash removed from the cafeteria putting a total of 250 tons of trash per school year, or 250 lbs. of trash being thrown away by each individual student per school year.
Senior Jenny Tankersley saidd she will throw her trash away if the the custodians walk by with a trash can.
“But if they do not walk by,” she said, “I do not bother with it. Instead I sit and talk to my friends a little bit longer.”
Another problem involved in the lunch room is students not having enough time to eat because of long lines, so they sneak their food out of the cafeteria.
“The principals do a terrible job of monitoring food coming out of the cafeteria,” Tankersley said. “Students bring food out left and right, and throw all of the trash in the hallways.”
And leave it up to the LHS custodial staff to fix everything.
“The custodians do an excellent job at keeping our school clean,” Tankersley said. “They have a big job and there is always someone throwing their trash around somewhere.”
But there could still be some minor improvements.
“The custodians are doing a fabulous job and they have nothing they need to improve on,” Tankersley said. “The principals, though, need to improve on making sure people get their trash in the right spot before they leave the cafeteria.”
Another problem is students leaving with food, but Tankersley said the principals are stuck on how they can do that.
“As far as making sure the students do not leave with food, they are kind of stuck,” Tankersley said. “They can not go through girls purses, which is the main way food escapes.”
But for the food students are not taking that is left on the tables, Tankersley said amounts to a lot.
“I would guess about 300 to 400 pounds of trash are left on the tables after the lunches on a daily basis,” Tankersley said. “This is a huge problem and it makes our school look very shabby and dirty.”
According to Tankersley, the problem of students not throwing their trash away is an increasing and continuing phenomenon being seen at LHS.
“Right now there is not much else that the custodians, teachers, and principals can do to help the situation,” Tankersley said. “What happens next is up to the students to do their part in fixing this.”
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