Over the last few months, there has been an increase of littering on the ground in Cresskill. This can mostly be seen on the streets, and around the tenakill river. Students from the school have also been noticing it on the school property and are likely causing some of it themselves. When asked in a poll, students have said that 70.8% had never littered in the school and town which seems to contradict the 75% of students who have said that they had seen other students littering.
To combat this issue of littering, students were asked to make suggestions about what the school could do to fix it. Many students suggested that they get reminders that they should not litter. One student suggested bringing back a historical pre-covid practice of “cougar-cash” where the cleanest grade in the school got free cookies. While another student said that littering wasn’t really a problem in Cresskill. They also stated that individuals reducing it won’t really do anything and that the problem is up to international cooperation to fix it. As you can see there are many conflicting opinions on this issue.
Littering is a really important issue in a small town like Cresskill because it puts heavy strain on the local ecosystem. It also puts a strain on the residents as it makes their town look less nice than it really would be without litter. If people just started putting their litter in the proper receptacles, it would really reduce the cost of cleaning up and disposing of litter which is currently up to the town’s authorities. When asked in a poll, 37.5% of students said that they only sometimes throw their garbage into the proper receptacles with 8.3% saying they usually don’t.
What kind of litter plagues the town of Cresskill and how does it impact the town? There are 7 known littered items in Cresskill with Candy wrappers being the most littered item while gum is luckily at the bottom. The effects of it are the halls of the school sometimes being littered with these items which can trip people or make them slip. Seeing litter in the school may make people think it is okay which might fit in with what one student said “I do not believe in recycling.”
As you can see, there is a slow but steady increase of littering in the town of Cresskill. The students, residents, ecosystem, and school are all trying to combat this problem. With this recent, yet steady rise of littering in the town of Cresskill, the students and residents must band together to protect our ecosystem.
