Severna Park, MD, October 1, Severn School
Yes, we have all heard the infamous rumor that Severn does not recycle. Everyone has chosen to believe this rumor and have continued to spread it. But, where did this rumor even come from? Is this the truth or is it just a made up story everyone believes? I have struggled with these unanswered questions for two years, as other students must have too. 
However, we finally have answers.
It has been said that the buildings and grounds crew collects the trash and recycling together and just throws it all away. After students hear this, they start to question how Severn could even be a green school if we don’t recycle. In addition to that, clubs that have worked to try to change Severn’s recycling habits start to feel as though everything they have accomplished is for no reason and not beneficial to the school at all.
However, after talking to Mr. Sawyer, I discovered that this is false. Mr. Sawyer is a member of the buildings and grounds workers, and from what I understand, is very high up in authority. I told him about the stance of the students and how they were led to believe that our recycled materials are thrown away. He ensured me that Severn does in fact recycle, and that this rumor may have been started a long time ago, and if it was true, addressed a long time ago too. With that being said, if students or faculty have witnessed it recently, the recycling was likely thrown away because someone threw something that didn’t belong in it into it.
Mr. Sawyer has informed me that Severn does comingling recycling through a special company. Comingling recycling is just when we recycle cardboard, plastic, and aluminum together all at once. Because we recycle like this, a special company picks up our recycling every week. In Severn’s past until last year, this company came and picked up the recycling from our school once a week. However, after Eco Club and others worked hard to encourage the students and faculty to recycle more, this company now comes to pick up Severn’s recycling twice a week.
Severn’s success in recycling has gone unrecognized for too long. We have clearly gotten better at recycling. This can be shown through every classroom having a recycling bin, every floor having a few rec
ycling bins in the hallways, and through the special lunch cans and their tops. The system is in place for us to recycle, it’s just a matter of students and faculty correctly placing items in the recycling and trash bins.
