Let’s talk about something real, raw, and relevant: Regis Jesuit High School claims they are with and for others, but Regis continues to show their lack of empathy and regard for local and global communities when it comes to being sustainable.

Many kids come into Regis with a lack of education on environmental, recycling, and composting programs. Denver County is the one of the only local areas in Colorado where green and purple bins are visible. Some kids may even come into Regis and never have seen a green or purple bin!

The 3 R’s are a universally used line, with multiple meanings. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle; however, Regis needs to adapt a new set of R’s: Re-evaluate, re-educate, reform for their students.

“Less than 50% of private education institutions properly utilize their recycling programs.” (NERC 2012) That’s not even including the public-school percentage, which is staggering lower and lower each year.

We need education! I attended a private middle school that was vocal about their empathy for the world and others, and one of the best ways they showed this was by properly educating their kids how to dispose of their waste.

Although, Regis does have recycling and composting, as an option, no one tells you what is what. Regis needs to offer clear direction and education on how to prevent waste. 24% of our trash and waste is recyclable, and ends up in the trash due to miss-labeling/lack of education! Many claim recycling is too expensive, but since we already offer it, the change financially would be close to nonexistent. All we are asking for is a clear change in the education we are receiving. Why should you care? This waste is being dumped in our nature and city we’re proud to call home! Don’t let the laziness and lack of regard for recycling ruin our beautiful state.

May I remind you, this isn’t a problem subject only to Regis. This is a problem that is deeply rooted within the American school system since the industrial revolution where plastic, metal, and cardboard became more prominent in our trash cans. Multiple presidents including Jackson, Obama, and others have made an evident change to fix this. The rates skyrocketed in 2016 after the election of President Trump, and are still climbing even with the recent change in presidency.

We have a lot on our plate right now, quite literally. The pandemic that’s lasted over a year is a great example of something that is making our waste count skyrocket. Now, with everything being pre-packaged and individually, plastic and metal are more commonly used to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This is, evidently, inevitable, but we can reduce how much we are using. Regis could enforce kids to bring their lunch from home, rather than relying on the cafeteria each day. Many kids still need to eat and don’t have the resources at home to bring lunch every day. Because of this, we can’t end our partnership with FLIK (our catering company) but we can also ask FLIK to limit how much wasteful product they use, and how much they’re dumping in our trash.

We need reform in Regis’ education on sustainability, especially in our cafeteria, and we can do that by reducing, recycling, and composting as many school materials as we can. So please, to you, your families, fellow students, and faculty make a conscious effort to be more sustainable on campus. Leave with the comfort in knowing you’re saving God’s green planet.