People in the West Chester community have been dumping everything from car seats to toilets in recycling bins across the area. The after effects include social service employees having to work extra shifts and wasting their time, money and efforts towards something that no one seems to be treating properly. Because of this, West Chester Township’s board has decided to cancel recycling in the city. These effects took place on October 1st, 2022, but will they last forever? We don’t know for sure; but with recycling gone, we are forced to ask the question: how will this affect the community of West Chester?

Recycling is something that we need to survive. If we do not have the programs to manage trash, the world will be filled to the brim with it. In Lakota West specifically, recycling was a large factor in getting rid of school materials up until a few years ago, when West stopped recycling paper and plastic, turning only to items like glass and large cardboard boxes. Recycling bins across the building still exist, but there are few items that end up at the right destination. With the items we recycle rapidly decreasing, we can only wonder how much we will still reuse in the next few years as the amount of trash in the world grows.

Not having recycling could turn out to be detrimental because it worsens existing problems in the world. Polluted water, smog, and trouble with energy conservation are issues present already. Removing recycling is not resolving the issues caused by pollution. Many of us pay for recycling services now, which is good, but can easily cause problems. Some people don’t know how to properly recycle certain items, which defeats the purpose of recycling in the first place. If we are still able to recycle in some way, then we need to make sure we are doing it right by following the different directions for the items we are recycling. For example, if you have a plastic container used to hold food, make sure you clean all of the food out before putting it in the recycling.  Larry Burks, the Township Administrator in West Chester, said during their September 27th meeting, “We’re paying a lot of time and money… No one was hired to pick up garbage. We’re paying through the nose because it’s garbage”. Since it causes problems, we need to step up and do our best to help the planet.