How much trash is involved in a meal?

If we assume that half of the students attending this campus eat at least one meal on campus every day, how much trash is accumulated from just eating?

A meal consisting of a drink, a main dish, and a side order. Drinks usually come in plastic bottles, aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic pouches, or paper cups.

A main dish could be wrapped in paper or aluminum foil, served on a paper plate, cardboard box, or in a styrofoam container.

A side could be French fries in a cardboard container, a salad in a plastic container, or even a Snicker’s bar in a plastic wrapper.

Imagine how much paper is involved with students, we do our homework on paper, take notes, make rough drafts, throw paper airplanes across the room when we get bored.

Instructors give us all sorts of useless handouts. We buy 70 dollar books to only read two chapters.

Then, there is the term papers, we print out endless amounts of online research, for those 18 page term papers, that will go in the trash once the professor skims through them.

Did you know that about one billion trees’ worth of paper is thrown away each year?

It is. Everything used to package is also recyclable.

If you grew up in the eighties and early nineties I’m sure that you can remember the outcry of recycling campaigns telling us to “Recycle, reduce, and reuse.”

Captain Planet was there to help when we could not get bad corporations to stop dumping their waste into our oceans or rivers.

Recycling became cool, the thing to do.

During high school when not so many people cared, there was still a box labeled, “Recycling Paper Only” in every classroom.

Out in the halls there were designated containers for recyclable plastic bottles and aluminum cans.

When the bins were full students were nice enough to neatly place the bottles on the floor next to the bins.

The effort to recycle and the issue of trash were two topics that never crossed.

The first time I walked through this college’s campus I was carrying an empty water bottle, at every turn I looked for a recycling bin.

I ended up carrying the bottle for 5 hours and taking it home.

Every time I buy a bottled drink I always make sure that I have space in my back pack to hold it in after I am done with it.

Cerritos College should have recycling facilities.

Many people think that recycling is expensive. The purpose of recycling is to help the environment.

A well designed recycling program can be set up to save money not just to be self sufficient.

A school uses unimaginable amounts of paper.

Eateries use all kinds of packaging, especially paper or plastic.

Two materials that can be sold to recycling facilities.

We should be making money off of our trash!