Many Dashers, including myself, have experienced the frustration of searching the DSHA Commons for a table without some sort of trash, half eaten food, or crumbs. I have seen everything from a sandwich left on a chair to an entire deck of playing cards spread across the floor. In other words, it is quite clear that DSHA has a littering problem.
Leaving trash for other Dashers or our custodians to clean up is disrespectful and embarrassing. Refusing to clean up after oneself violates the values of DSHA, creates a potentially negative view of the school, and is simply disrespectful to staff and other students.
One of the values of the Sisters of the Divine Savior is Responsible Stewardship. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, Responsible Stewardship is the “careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.”
As students who are just years away from beginning adult life outside of our childhood homes and school communities, it is time to establish environmentally conscious habits now– sooner than later.
Utilizing the public spaces each day to eat, we are expected to clean up after ourselves. Just as there is no shortage of trash bins in both the Quad and Commons, there is no excuse for careless littering in shared spaces.
Leaving trash for “another person to clean up” not only reflects poorly on those who act in this way, but also creates a negative view of DSHA from those outside our school community.
Imagine you are a parent or student from another school visiting DSHA to watch a basketball game. You walk in to find trash sprawled across every table, and not just wrappers. I have seen entire meals, spilled sauces, and piles of crumbs left on tables.
It is important that DSHA’s public spaces are representative of our community as a whole, and the amount of trash is not demonstrating the Goodness and Kindness of us Dashers.
Possibly the biggest problem with littering is the harm it causes to other members of the community. Custodians are not responsible for picking up your trash. On one occasion, a dasher witnessed someone spill a sauce on a table in the commons. After being asked if she was going to clean up the mess she made, she said, “No, it is their job.” When asked who “their” referred to, she said “the cleaning people,” in reference to the maintenance staff.
Maintenance staff have many essential jobs, but cleaning up your trash is not one of them. Littering also affects your fellow Dashers, as students in study hall or wellness are unable to find a clean table to work at.
At the end of the day, we all have the basic responsibility to take care of our own messes. But more importantly, we must consider the consequences of ignorant actions for other people, like maintenance staff and other Dashers. This is especially true for DSHA students, who should always be embracing the values of our school– chiefly, being the Goodness and Kindness towards others and our environments.
