//PICTURED ABOVE: Illustrated here are problems caused by improper recycling, such as air contamination and sea animal death. To educate students on proper recycling and prevent these types of issues, Hockaday is working on improving the recycling program.

This school year Hockaday’s recycling company released strict rules regarding what can and cannot be recycled and the school is working to respond. If Hockaday does not follow these new policies, the company could potentially fine the school, so Form II Dean Jordan Innerarity is working with Carolyn Hoke, the director of housekeeping, to improve the recycling program.

The two main rules are that paper needs to be clean and any bottle, can, or recyclable food container must be emptied, cleaned, and dried. Items such as styrofoam, batteries, greasy pizza boxes, scrap metals and more can never be recycled. 

These recycling rules are being emphasized because last school year students were placing things in the bin couldn’t be recycled, creating more work for the recycling company. Innerarity said this change in the program is significant because “it informs people and properly educates everyone about recycling.” 

Despite this change, the basic concept of the recycling program has remained the same. A few advisories, which are assigned by Innerarity, are put on recycling duty for shifts of about two and a half months. Within each advisory, the girls are split up in pairs and assigned a designated spot. 

Every Thursday during advisory, the pairs report to their assigned spot and pick up the recycling in the area. Once they have collected all the recycling, the girls put it in the larger recycling bins. 

“It’s nice being helpful towards the faculty,” said sophomore CiCi Sprouse, a member of the Berryman advisory who collects recycling in Penson Gym.

The girls who pick up the recycling gain an awareness of what should and should not be in the bins and sometimes have to explain to others why they can’t take some items. This goes along with Innerarity’s goal of improving the program.

“As a community,” Innerarity said, “we have an obligation to make certain that everybody knows how to recycle.”

Story by Olivia Garcia

Ph0to provided by www.waste360.com