Does it really matter if I don’t wash out my yogurt container before I toss it in the bin? What’s the matter with a little tape on that cardboard box I just broke down?

“You toss just one orange peel into the blue box, you ruin an entire batch of recycling,” said Brittany Johnson ’20, the head of Green-Up. These little things matter.

Many people still don’t take the time to properly recycle because they doubt their efforts alone have an impact. But Eco-rep member Gabby LaRiviere ‘21 argues that “as cheesy as it sounds, one person can make a difference.” so it is crucial that we all put our best (green) foot forward and take responsibility for the Earth we live on.

When I did a casual survey of community members, friends and family who all recycle, I discovered that only 14 percent actually knew the ins and outs of recycling despite their interest in protecting our environment.This number is troubling because not knowing the rules of recycling causes 8 million metric tons of plastic to be dumped into the ocean annually according to National Geographic.