As the snow melts, the water pools and reveals a hidden evil. Like toxic flowers leaching into the beautiful landscape, it dirties our school. From the red of Chick-fil-a wrappers blowing in the wind to soda cans trapped along the fence like a prisoner begging for escape, trash is an infection that burdens our school.

“People don’t really pick up after themselves, the parking lot is always a mess and people fight,” Xavier Vigil ‘27 said.

Although we have good academic and sports teams, the trash piles are representative of a different side of students’ lifestyles—from fast food wrappers to copious amounts of paper to vape boxes. Of course, that’s not the only issue with our litter; it affects our public image. 

“I think it’s very bad, and it makes our school look dirty,” Caleb Yocum ‘29 said. “Our parking lot deserves to be clean, because it’s a nice place.”

Furthermore, trash has a deeper impact on the wildlife that surrounds our school. 

“People don’t really care about their environment, so they don’t consider the cleanliness of the school,” Keren Bantshi ‘27 said. “I think people should change their habits.”

Most of the trash in the parking lot is fast food wrappers, becoming a dangerous combination of paper and plastic for the birds, squirrels, deer and other wildlife that wanders around our parking lot. According to the National Wildlife Federation, trash can be very harmful because of the dangerous compounds that can accumulate in the tissues of animals and kill them. This results in infected food chains as the compounds pass from one animal to another. Additionally, trash is easily transported by wind or water, and it can take years for it to fully deteriorate.  

“I feel wildlife is obviously everywhere, so when there’s more trash on the ground, especially in more crowded areas, the wildlife can be more subject to getting harm from it,” Nyza Kohli ‘29 said.

Furthermore, we are widely known among Colorado residents as a drug school, taking on the infamous name of “Crack Canyon.” Because of the number of people who do drugs inside their cars in the lower lot, many tend to throw their empty vape cartridges and other drug-related trash onto the ground. According to the World Health Organization, e-waste contains harmful toxins that when released into the environment, can contaminate the air, soil, dust and water at both recycling sites and communities. This only adds to the already accumulating fast food trash. 

Students have the option to join clubs like National Honor Society (NHS) and Eco Club and participate in scheduled clean-ups for community service hours. Still, these events shouldn’t be necessary, and as students, we should feel obligated to keep our school clean. 

Instead of throwing your trash on the ground, take those few extra steps to properly discard it and keep the campus looking nice. If you see trash, throw it away.

Gallery • 2 Photos

media by Christian Kennedy

Alexander Oki ‘28 picks up trash in the lower parking lot Feb. 20. According to Keep America Beautiful, the majority of the trash found on both roads and waterways consists of fast food wrappers and packaging, receipts and plastic beverage bottles. Clubs like the National Honor Society (NHS) offer students the opportunity to earn service hours by cleaning up the trash in the parking lots. “[The trash] makes us look very unhygienic and unmotivated to be a proper school,” Emberlyse Vidal ‘28 said. “It makes us look like we just don't care about our students' environments.”