Did you know that FLHS does not recycle? Although a blue bin is found in almost every classroom and corner of the cafeteria, at the end of the day it gets thrown in the same dumpster as trash. 

Dr. Hatzis, principal of FLHS, stated, “Ultimately it’s got to come down to the habits of the students and how we get everyone in the habit of following those rules so [the recycling system] can work well.”

When asked if most students seemed to take the time to recycle, student Phoebe Shostack responded “I’d say most,” but said, “yeah probably” to having thrown trash in the recycling bin. “Well why would they put the recycling bins next to the trash bins?” 

Fingers seem to all be pointed at the students, but when speaking with Mr. Nulf, an English teacher who has taken up the fight of recycling in the past, said he was pushed away with “well, we have recycling bins.” 

Nulf said that this problem goes beyond recycling, “reduce, reuse, recycle has lost its meaning”, and that “we’re forgetting the reuse aspect.” Ultimately though, Nulf says, “if it’s not profitable, it’s not gonna happen.”

Co-presidents of the Eco-club Eily Smith and Asad Syed admitted, “I feel like if we didn’t have this club and try to make a change for it, I don’t know if the school itself would on its own.”

The co-presidents were also fed-up with the recycling system. “I feel like [FLHS] shouldn’t say they recycle or claim that they have it if it’s not actually being used the right way.”

However, the recycling system was not always this way. When talking to Mr. Grasso, a science teacher at FLHS, he mentioned remembering someone who would empty all the recycling bins, but he “hasn’t seen that face since before COVID.”

Smith and Syed said the main initiative of the Eco-Club right now is compost. “Most people recycle out of habit, so we could just do that, but for food.” They have planned six bins for composting food waste, which could be turned into fertilizer. 

If progress wants to be made in recycling at Ludlowe, both students and the administration have to be on board. “Will high school aged students be mindful enough to take that extra second to separate out when they’re throwing stuff away, or are they just going to dump it all in one place?” (Hatzis). 

There is still hope for FLHS to become environmentally conscious, as the Eco Club works on the compost initiative and pushes students to make more mindful choices when it comes to depositing their waste.