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Recycling and Trash Bins on Xavier Campus
Can you tell which bin is for recycling?
In a recent survey, we polled a group of students to see if they could correctly identify the recycling bin. At first glance, these two bins look almost identical, having the same exterior and shape. The only visible difference is the sizes of the holes to deposit waste. The waste bin in the bottom right corner has a smaller gap and the other has a larger one. Surprisingly when given the following choices to determine which bin is for recycling (if any), with "the bottom right one" being correct*, most students from the sample chose this answer.
*Disclaimer: Although the XCP Go Green students concluded that the bottom right bin is most likely for recycling, we have received no confirmation that this is accurate.
Xavier College Preparatory is not a green campus. They have made very minimal efforts to be more sustainable. While Xavier's environmental awareness club, XERO Club, has likely attempted to spread awareness of environmental concerns, in hindsight, Xavier's sustainability has not advanced. For example, though the cafeteria does contain some recycling bins, they are very hard to find. At first glance, the recycling bins and trash bins look nearly identical. The only distinguisher between the two bins is the word "recycle" engraved near the entrance for the waste.
Recycling Bin in the Xavier Cafeteria
According to the following chart, nearly a third of polled students are unaware that Xavier has recycling bins around the campus.
In other polls, when students were asked if they thought Xavier has enough recycling bins on campus, the majority voted that Xavier needs more. Some even said that they didn't realize there were any recycling bins on campus. Likely because of this, in a separate question, most of the demographic answered that they rarely recycle on campus.
However, when each student was asked if they recycle at home very few said that they rarely, or never, recycled things like bottles and cans. In fact, nearly 40% of the polled students claimed to always recycle when at home.
The average elementary school produces more than 18,000 pounds of waste each year. This number is generated by students who bring packed lunches to school full of single-use plastics. One of the most common of these types of waste is single-use plastic water bottles. In America, we throw away 2.5 million plastic water bottles every hour. Yet, out of this enormous number, approximately only 12% are recycled. Interestingly, between 75 and 100 percent of schools across the nation actually have a recycling program. However, rarely do these schools report the same, or even similar, sucess rates for these programs. In fact, less than 40 percent of these schools regularly participate in active recycling. A majority of plastic bottles do not end up in recycling plants, likely the product of poor recycling initiatives across the nation, including those in schools. Instead, much of it ends up in waterways and oceans, greatly harming these environments. If schools, high schools specifically, are able to ban the use or sale of plastic water bottles, we can greatly lessen the amount of plastic that ends up in our oceans.
Trash in the Cafeteria
Credit: Los Angeles Times
Waste Bins in the St. Francis Xavier School Cafeteria
Credit: Makenna Douglas
In our initiative, creating a more sustainable campus requires two main approaches: improving what already exists and removing what is not beneficial. For our project specifically, we determined that part one, "improvement", is not only making recycling bins more accessible around campus but actually increasing the amount that exists. Part two, the "removal" step, means limiting single-use plastic water bottles on Xavier's campus. By doing these two things, we are able to both rid Xavier of the "bad" (plastic water bottles) while increasing the "good" that already exists (recycling bins).
Schools are incredibly transformative places. They shape the minds of all students, inspiring awareness and action across various subjects. By implementing a recycling program and banning single-use plastics, schools can motivate their students to continue these eco-conscious habits in their everyday lives. Sustainability programs at schools are vital to improving the conditions of our environment.
Creators of this page: Makenna Douglas '26 & Elise Posever '26
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