“Green with Emmy.” While not the most clever play on words, this slogan represents the new American trend of “going green.” The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards launched this movement to make the awards show, held September 17, 2007, more environmentally efficient. The guests and staff were transported to the event in hybrid cars and the show was run partially on solar power.
In the face of these impressive shows of social awareness, people may tend to feel that their own efforts, such as recycling or turning off lights when they are not in a room, are inconsequential. Rather than stepping up and trying to match the efforts of celebrities and big corporations, many of us, Stuyvesant included, are neglecting the environment altogether.
Unfortunately, our environment is something we cannot afford to forget. With hurricanes and melting polar ice caps constantly reminding us of natural dangers, Stuyvesant needs to double its efforts and become more environmentally friendly.
Fifty students from Boston Latin, a Massachusetts school, known for being both the oldest existing public high school in America and its academic rigor, won the Keyspan Foundation’s Do Something Environmental Sustainability Contest in October 2007 for their campaign to raise environmental awareness, conserve energy and reduce waste at their school.
This program involved over 2,500 people—roughly the same number of students currently attending Stuyvesant—who recycled 50 pounds of batteries and 1,780 pounds of paper. They also saved 33,683 hours of energy.
In one month, Boston Latin students held 45 presentations on global warming, made 348 visits to homerooms encouraging students to use reusable water bottles rather than buying plastic ones, and held weekly movie screenings and discussions on the importance of being environmentally conscious. Stuyvesant hasn’t held even one assembly or made a single announcement about the environment this year.
Then consider the amount of waste Stuyvesant produces on a daily basis. According to a survey conducted by the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY), the average public school student throws away half a pound of uneaten food every day, and Stuyvesant wastes about 1.2 million sheets of paper per year.
Stuyvesant must—and can—establish a well-developed plan for reducing energy consumption and overall waste production. We can resurrect the waste prevention and recycling program that was hailed, as recently as 10 years ago, as one of the best waste prevention and recycling programs in the city.
This program, lead by technology teacher Richard Realmuto, involved the custodial staff, students and many administrators. Realmuto helped students petition the Board of Education to use more recycled paper, set up paper reuse centers in offices and conducted a monthly audit of the waste Stuyvesant produced.
This program could be revived with the support of the administration or the Student Union, but neither seems willing to take up the challenge.
“We’re taking on too big a project here,” said Principal Stanley Teitel of a possible program to raise awareness about environmental issues. Teitel is more concerned with the cleanliness of the school than with the student body’s environmental awareness. “Before I try to take on the world,” he said, “let’s try […] to convince the student body to keep our school clean. There are too many of us, and I include my self, who just don’t seem to care too much about this issue.”
However difficult it may be to persuade 3,000 teenagers to pay more attention to their environment, without the administration and SU’s help, it will be difficult to create the necessary schoolwide program. Reminding students to recycle, requiring teachers to print class handouts double-sided, organizing paper reuse centers, and auditing the waste Stuyvesant produces are the first steps.
If we need to wait until Stuyvesant’s hallways are spotless before the administration will implement a comprehensive and effective environmental sustainability program, the school will be under water before anything gets done.