Hello Emrys,
thank you for initiating discussion regarding this on-going problem with Enloe student litter. Living directly across from the high school, I can tell you that I have cleaned up more than my share of their trash! While I agree that additional trash cans are needed, I believe that there is another aspect to solving this problem that needs to be considered. But first, I would like to say that I do not think it is worth the effort to approach the Enloe NHS or the student Council. For the past two years my daughter was an officer of the Enloe student Council and also a member of NHS. On several occasions I suggested to her that either of these organizations could serve the community by addressing the littering problem. What I learned is that these organizations have a quota of 'community service' work that they engage in and once the quota is met, they do not make any effort to take on additional projects, no matter how worthwhile or noble they may be. Besides, these kids are not the perpetrators, and utilizing them to clean up the mess is not a sustainable solution to solving the litter problem.
Two years ago I had a one-on-one meeting with Matt Rice to discuss the student littering problem and offered my assistance to help in any way possible. Needless to say, he never contacted me, so that Spring I decided to launch my own personal campaign to fight the problem. Over the span of several weeks I picked up trash along the street where the students park during the school lunch periods. I made it very obvious that I was picking up their trash and I talked to many students reminding them that littering is a $$punishable$$ offense and encouraged them to use the trash can instead. One day I actually witnessed a bag of trash being lobbed from a parked car into the stream just a few feet from where I was standing. There were 4 boys in the car and I told the driver that I would report him for littering unless he made sure that the trash was picked up. After some discussion within the car, boy from the back seat emerged, climbed over the railing and down the embankment to retrieve his trash. I held open my garbage bag for him to deposit it and told him that I was 'the litter police' and that I would be keeping watch on a random basis! While this may sound a bit extreme, I can tell you that it was effective as the volume of litter was noticeable diminished during those months.
While it is not feasible (or safe!) for neighbors to deputize themselves as the 'litter police', my little experiment convinced me that some sort of patrolling coupled with awareness and personal interaction with the students is needed. Last year there was a bike-patrol on duty during the lunch periods to ensure that only students with appropriate privileges were leaving the campus. If this position still exists, it seems logical that the duties could be expanded to include litter patrol and awareness communication with the students as well. Signage is another easy and effective educational and preventive measure that could be taken. The 'Keep America Beautiful' and 'Don't Litter!' signs that were prevalent during my youth left and huge and lasting impression on me and, most likely, others as well. Perhaps this is something that we could also request through the CAC.
I am willing (and available) to help with any efforts that are focused on addressing the litter problem. Please let me know how I can be of assistance.
thanks again,
Sheri