By the look of this photo, there are people out there tampering with our recycle stations all over campus. Doors have been pried open with crowbars and locks have been damaged. People have figured out that they can walk onto our campus during nighttime, reach their hands into the round hole, and steal the recycling money that belongs to Livermore High students.
Normally, clubs across campus take turns collecting the recycling, and use the profits for their activities. However, this year, there is only a small amount of those bottles and cans left in the bins to collect. There are 57 recycle stations across campus currently, and this money adds up. Fortunately, students from the Environmental Science class have been cleverly designing improvements to our recycle stations. These designs will hopefully to keep thieves away, but also promote more recycling across campus.
The easy response to theft and vandalism is anger, and vengefulness. However, the economy has probably forced people to do things they probably never thought they would have to do. So, instead of turning our recycle stations into armed fortresses, we have simply unlocked the doors. This will lead to less destruction of our stations, and will prompt students to empty the stations more frequently. A long term solution may include a place for compostable materials in our stations, as well as carefully designed security measures.
