District meeting discusses formation of Recycling Task Force
By Remington Wong (Editor-in-Chief)
As the first step toward evaluating and improving the consumption and conservation habits practiced by its schools, the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) held an open meeting on Thursday, March 1 in theWilcox Science Lecture Hall to discuss the formation of a Recycling Task Force.
“I'm excited that there is such widespread support from students, teachers, principals, administrators, and local businesses,” said Mr. Roger Barnes, business administrator for the SCUSD, in response to the initial turnout at the first meeting. "This will be a great forum to make something happen in," he added.
During their self-introductions, many of the attending teachers expressed their concern and amazement that, though individual teachers had introduced recycling bins into their classrooms, the elementary schools in general were devoid of a comprehensive, school-wide recycling program. These voiced concerns were followed by presentations detailing the progress made in the effort to establish and maintain school-wide programs at the high-school level.
These presentations were made by senior Vicky Lee, who discussed Santa Clara High School's success in placing a paper and bottles/cans bins in each classroom, and junior Chris Simpson, who reported on the recycling endeavors of Wilcox's Ungarbage Crew (UGC), whose members constituted a substantial fraction of the attendees.
Though the main topic of the meeting was school-wide recycling, the Wilcox Monte Bello Ridge (MBR) Club also had a chance to present at the meeting. Presenters Peiley Lau and Alexandra Pincus, two of the club's co-presidents, detailed their club's efforts to promote environmental awareness through events such as the crosscountry ski trip.
“We think that it is not only important to involve students on campus in recycling, but that it is also important to take them to
nature and show them what they are protecting,” said Lau.
The last presentation, delivered by Wilcox Science Department Chair Dennis Dowling, proposed a plan to illustrate how the district and its schools should improve its conservation practices. This plan would begin with a comprehensive audit of how much the district is currently using in terms of resources such as electricity, natural gas, and
water.
“If, say, Santa Clara's energy bill is half that of Wilcox's energy bill, then we need to find out what they're doing that we're not,” said Mr. Dowling.
The next step after the audit would be to set goals for the reduction of resource usage. Mr. Dowling points to state legislation such as the School Diversion and Environmental Education Law (which calls for schools to “cooperate with cities and counties in developing plans and programs to meet and exceed the state's 50 percent waste reduction and recycling mandate”) as a guide for setting these goals.
Once these goals have been set, the district would be able to create and implement an action plan that would fulfill the set goals.
After concluding remarks from Mr. Barnes, attendees allowed to sign up for task force committees (where each would be in charge of a particular resource whose usage needs to be reduced) that they would be interested in joining. If you did not attend this meeting but would still like to be a part of the Recycling Task Force, there will be another meeting on Thursday, March 15 at 3:30 p.m. in the Science Lecture Hall. For more information, see Mr. Dowling or call Mr. Barnes at
(408) 423-2085.
By Remington Wong (Editor-in-Chief)
As the first step toward evaluating and improving the consumption and conservation habits practiced by its schools, the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) held an open meeting on Thursday, March 1 in theWilcox Science Lecture Hall to discuss the formation of a Recycling Task Force.
“I'm excited that there is such widespread support from students, teachers, principals, administrators, and local businesses,” said Mr. Roger Barnes, business administrator for the SCUSD, in response to the initial turnout at the first meeting. "This will be a great forum to make something happen in," he added.
During their self-introductions, many of the attending teachers expressed their concern and amazement that, though individual teachers had introduced recycling bins into their classrooms, the elementary schools in general were devoid of a comprehensive, school-wide recycling program. These voiced concerns were followed by presentations detailing the progress made in the effort to establish and maintain school-wide programs at the high-school level.
These presentations were made by senior Vicky Lee, who discussed Santa Clara High School's success in placing a paper and bottles/cans bins in each classroom, and junior Chris Simpson, who reported on the recycling endeavors of Wilcox's Ungarbage Crew (UGC), whose members constituted a substantial fraction of the attendees.
Though the main topic of the meeting was school-wide recycling, the Wilcox Monte Bello Ridge (MBR) Club also had a chance to present at the meeting. Presenters Peiley Lau and Alexandra Pincus, two of the club's co-presidents, detailed their club's efforts to promote environmental awareness through events such as the crosscountry ski trip.
“We think that it is not only important to involve students on campus in recycling, but that it is also important to take them to
nature and show them what they are protecting,” said Lau.
The last presentation, delivered by Wilcox Science Department Chair Dennis Dowling, proposed a plan to illustrate how the district and its schools should improve its conservation practices. This plan would begin with a comprehensive audit of how much the district is currently using in terms of resources such as electricity, natural gas, and
water.
“If, say, Santa Clara's energy bill is half that of Wilcox's energy bill, then we need to find out what they're doing that we're not,” said Mr. Dowling.
The next step after the audit would be to set goals for the reduction of resource usage. Mr. Dowling points to state legislation such as the School Diversion and Environmental Education Law (which calls for schools to “cooperate with cities and counties in developing plans and programs to meet and exceed the state's 50 percent waste reduction and recycling mandate”) as a guide for setting these goals.
Once these goals have been set, the district would be able to create and implement an action plan that would fulfill the set goals.
After concluding remarks from Mr. Barnes, attendees allowed to sign up for task force committees (where each would be in charge of a particular resource whose usage needs to be reduced) that they would be interested in joining. If you did not attend this meeting but would still like to be a part of the Recycling Task Force, there will be another meeting on Thursday, March 15 at 3:30 p.m. in the Science Lecture Hall. For more information, see Mr. Dowling or call Mr. Barnes at
(408) 423-2085.