Looking around, the trash problem on Broomfield’s campus is appalling. As a matter of fact, the students in National Honors Society led by biology teacher, Mark Little and counselor Gina Malecha, picked up 33 bags of trash. That is right, 33! Come on people, is it really that hard to find the nearest trash can and dispose of the waste in the proper receptacle or just leave it in the car until later when a trash can is nearby?

While this might seem like a trivial matter to some, this is a rather important issue. When it comes to garbage, the junior and senior parking lots are particularly bad. Around midday these parking lots see a flurry of activity when students are released for lunch. When lunch is nearing its end is when the majority of trash is left in the parking lots. Some students might be in a rush to get back to class and idly throw their trash on the ground strictly out of negligence.

It seems counterintuitive to me that there are so many great students who attend our school. Think of all the great things we do together: wish week, FISH canned food drive, penny wars, and the list goes on. When it comes to saving the earth, I know that most of us would do anything to lower pollution and littering rates. However, with all of the good will that the students demonstrate, why is it that we think it’s okay to trash our school’s property? Why do we take less pride in the school grounds? Isn’t it too part of planet earth? It’s not like we can litter here without repercussions on the surrounding areas.

Broomfield High students need to take action against this mess for a variety of reasons. For many, the senior lot is the first thing parents and visitors see when they drive by. When these people drive by and see the lot littered with trash it gives the school a bad rep. Students need to take it upon themselves to dispose of their garbage in the nearest trash can. It is not that hard people. On top of the this, Broomfield only has four people making up the custodial staff. They already have a tough time as it is trying to clean up the inside of the school; they should not be held responsible for cleaning up trash outside when the students are perfectly capable of doing it themselves.

Students within the National Honors Society took action and woke up early on a Saturday morning to pick up trash. Led by junior Asher Walker, they managed to pick up enough trash to fill up 33 large trash bags. The NHS students took it upon themselves: “The NHS leaders gave us the idea, but it was pretty student driven.” The student body should take a hint, instead of having weekend clean-up crews, students should just do it themselves when they have the trash in hand.

The janitors are not here to clean up after the students. NHS is not here to clean up after students. Your fellow peers are not here to pick up after their classmates. Have some integrity. Littering is not cool, especially on school property. Asher believes the trash problem can be helped: “I think there needs to be more trash cans that are better kept and not gross.” If there are more trash cans that are easier to access, students can throw trash away easier. While it would be hard to enforce this, Asher thinks: “If there was some reward-based system, like if the school keeps clean for a week or two, a teacher does something.” This could potentially work, but it would be difficult to set a precedent or requirements for this; students would most likely participate.

Broomfield is not just for students. People from around the community come here for a lot of reasons: church on sunday mornings, youth athletic events, to run on the track, and meetings from time to time. Also, students who are open enrolling tour the school grounds all the time, and seeing garbage everywhere would most likely affect a lot of decisions. Broomfield hosts visitors almost every day. People from all over see the school. The students need to hold themselves accountable and keep the school looking respectable.

We are all in high school, some of us are on the verge of adulthood; it is time to grow up. Pick up after yourself. Pick up after your classmates. The biggest thing it comes down to is “kids taking initiative and calling out others who just dump their trash wherever they please.” Well said, Asher. Next time a student throws trash on the ground, say something!  Keep the school and its grounds clean. Challenge yourself to throw your trash away in a trash can; they are all over the place anyway.