From a young age students are told, “Reduce, reuse, and recycle.” In efforts to be able to do these three things, Sycamore has set up recycling programs, compost bins, and other programs to be more green.

At the high school, students sort their trash after lunch into three different cans: recycle, compost, and waste. Student volunteers oversee this process to ensure that other students are placing their trash into the appropriate can.

“I took AP Environmental last year and formed an awesome relationship with Mr. Ron Hochstrasser. When he was looking for people to work the lunch recycling tables, I was all over it. I think it’s important what this program is doing,” said Allison Kossen, 12.

The program has been designed to simultaneously make the high school more green and teach kids how they can extend their recycling to at home.

The volunteers at lunch separate the trash correctly if students cannot and tell them what they did wrong. This way, they walk away from the trash station knowing what to do next time and hopefully collecting that knowledge for at home.

“It’s actually super entertaining watching people sort their things. Some people know exactly what to do and some people move their trash back and forth over the can just so confused about what to do,” said Kossen.

Similar recycling and composting programs are happening at the Junior High School, Greene School, and elementary schools. The motto, “Reduce, reuse, recycle” has not gone away.

“I didn’t like doing it at first because it takes a little more time, but once I got the hang of it I realized how important sorting your trash is because it can be so impactful. This is our earth! We have to protect it,” said Lluna Katz, 11.