What can be done
February 4, 2022
While climate change can seem overwhelming at times, focusing on each individual impact is the first step. One thing everyone seems to agree on: Liberty isn’t doing the best job at encouraging its students and staff to act sustainably.
“Liberty needs to do more. We should constantly be asking, ‘What’s next?’ We should be considering the six-month plan, one-year plan, five-year plan, and even ten-year plan,” Stephens said.
While some of the biggest environmental issues—air pollution, fossil fuels, etc.—might seem out of reach for people in high school to tackle, there are still attainable eco-friendly options students can focus on. Many of these options start small.
“It only takes one individual to make the change,” Hill said. “I recycle, compost, and try to use less plastic.”
One of the biggest issues is food waste. In the United States alone, food waste makes up 30-40% of the total food supply. In context, that’s millions of tons of food per year. This problem is especially a concern at Liberty.
“Our generation has a consumer attitude. In the cafeteria, I see students get free lunch or bring food and then not eat it. It’s creating a massive amount of food waste,” said Dixit.
Instead of wasting our food, we need to put it to use. When you have leftovers, you can compost them. Taking a minute to sort your trash at lunch instead of simply tossing everything into the black trash bins seems simple but is often overlooked. This extra step could significantly reduce the amount of waste Liberty produces.
Helping the environment will require everyone to come together. Although it is crucial that individuals change their habits to be more sustainable, the government needs to play a role in creating a better, more environmentally friendly future.
“Corporations consume resources and produce waste at a much quicker and larger rate than we do,” senior Amira Turner said. “If everyone lived sustainably but corporations continued to be unrestricted, we would still be in the same place.”
To bring about this change, students can start writing letters and petitions. Email addresses to government officials at the state and federal levels can easily be found online. Slowly but surely, our generation can bring change through political action.
“Politicians often consider money as more important than the environment. But while the environment is expensive, it’s important,” Stephens said. “For your generation, some things are worth the cost.”
As we look back at the past generations, one message becomes clear: we cannot fail to act. Our environment must be a priority to everyone, from each individual to every large corporation. While we didn’t start the fire, as Billy Joel may say, one thing is certain: this generation must be the one to extinguish it.
Sources:
https://www.usda.gov/foodwaste/faqs
https://www.rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/