From The Blue Jay, Vol. 87, No. 3, Homecoming 2014

Point of View: By Jason LaHatte, Features Editor

“I only feel angry when I see waste… when I see people throwing away things we could use.” – Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Blue Jays, I have come to notice something peculiar since this school year started; we as a student body do not recycle as much as we should.

As a Catholic school, with our motto being “Men for Others,” Jesuit teaches its students to be stewards for creation. In order to also become “Men for the Earth,” the student body should make a conscious effort to recycle.

All too often, I see a fellow student at lunch drink water from a plastic bottle; he then proceeds to throw the bottle away in the garbage can.

Also, I have noticed the surprising lack of use of our classroom’s recycling boxes. Paper is thrown into the garbage cans where it will go to the landfill and not be of anymore use. Paper waste equals one thing: more trees cut down to make more paper. If a Jesuit education can garner a student a 30 on the ACT, then it gives one the ability to think before acting.

Now, I know that Jesuit’s has a Green Club, has recycling boxes in every classroom, and has large recycling cans on every floor and outside; but all of these superb features of Jesuit’s environmental commitment cannot work without the student body’s support and active participation. The Green Club, Jesuit’s student organization that empties the recycling bins into the recycling dumpster for weekly pickup, is larger than ever this year, according to moderator Lori Fasone.

This means that there are more Blue Jays who are aware that Jesuit needs to lessen its environmental impact.

Jesuit started its recycling program five years ago, and every year it grows. Because of the Green Club’s commitment to saving the environment from unnecessary waste, new recycling bins for every classroom will soon replace the boxes that sometimes go unnoticed for days.

As a top level academic institution, with state championships every year in sports, and the highest number of National Merit semifinalists in the region every year; Jesuit can also be the example of how a school can reduce its environmental impact.

This is the year that Jesuit High School can become a model for other schools who want to know how a recycling program should be done. Utilize the new recycle bins, recycle your lunchtime bottles and cans, think before you act, and be a man for the Earth.