Just a few hours after school, the lawn on the quad glitters green without a soda can in sight— no thanks to the students. Littering on this campus has always been taken care of by other people, but it is time for students to take responsibility for their own trash.

Littering is disrespectful to the campus and to the custodians the school hires to keep the campus clean. Students who litter are taking advantage of an extra luxury provided to them by taxpayers and demonstrate the laziness that permeates teenagers today.

Green Team member sophomore Lauren Biglow feels that people don’t understand how much the school’s custodians work.

“If we realize how much work they do, then we might learn to clean up after ourselves,” Lauren said.

The custodians are hired to maintain campus sanitation, not to make up for students’ negligence.

Despite this, a few students think that littering is not a problem on campus.

“There will be occasions where people slip up,” junior Roger Hau said. “There will always be a few people who litter—you can try to stop people from littering, but eventually someone is going to slip up.”

Statements like this are the root of the problem. When people “slip up” they are just being lazy.

This laziness should not be tolerated given the number of trashcans on campus. The number students who are unwilling to walk the extra 20 feet to the nearest trash cans is embarrassing.

Moreover, disposing of trash does not need to be a hassle. Sophomore Wesley Oribello found a fun and easy way to take care of the campus.

“I…throw [my trash] in basketball style,” Wesley said. “If I miss I will put it back in.”

It is so easy for students to pick up after themselves. Students have grown to love this campus. It is time they show that they deserve it by starting to take care of it.