In the previous issue of The Maroon, the article, “The Truth Behind the Blue Bins”, addressed the importance of recycling and what BOYCP students can do to contribute to the planet. We answered questions like: What can and can’t we recycle at school? With these questions answered there seems to be one that has been unsettled: Does Back of the Yards College Prep actually recycle?

The Maroon set out to investigate this stinky situation. We visited the CPS Waste and Recycling page, and according to this page, all CPS schools are provided with recycling bins and a guide. CPS schools can also keep track of what they recycle with the “Weekly Recycling Report”, but BOYCP is nowhere to be found in this report.

To dig deeper into the garbage, we took a trip to find out where the waste is placed and sent. We found one dumpster from the Spartan company, with a Lakeshore Recycling sticker covering one side. The Spartan company seems to focus on collecting trash and recycling tires, but why was the Lakeshore Recycling sticker on the same dumpster? Are both recycling and non-recycling waste placed in the same dumpster?

Ms. Bancroft, one of the assistant principals of the school, stated, “I know we have some recycling bins like in the cafeteria that get sorted and then go to the different recycling outposts. I think we have more garbage cans than recycling bins.”

After finding out there was only one dumpster for all the waste, we recently found about 3-4 small recycling dumpsters near the softball field of the school. Based on this finding, we can say that our school has at least put to effort into recycling, but are these dumpsters even used?

– Marlen Gongora