March Spotlight on Service – Ashley's Recycling Project

Having joined the TASIS Recycling Program at the start of freshman year, Ashley has been an enthusiastic supporter of the program and of the importance of environmental health. Mr. Bowser, Advisor of the Recycling Program, states, “Ashley has been a recycling champion since the beginning of the year. Not only have they been incredibly consistent, but they notice a problem and attack it. The entire initiative of trying to figure out how to help address the contamination of the recycling bins is Ashley’s brainchild. I have been trying to put my mind around it for a number of years and needed someone to pick up the baton, and Ashley seems to be that wonderful young person!”

Organizing a project to create handmade posters to place on each of the blue recycling bins at school to educate the community about what can, and cannot, be recycled, Ashley has worked with Mr. Bowser, Art teacher Ms. Morris, and a team of volunteers, including Claire (Grade 9), Jacopo, Anton, Valeria, Amanda, Thelma Rose, and Robyn (Grade 10), Roberta (Grade 11), and Mohamed, James, and Vinicius (Grade 12).  Here, we talk with Ashley about their inspiration for this service initiative. 

What led you to join the TASIS Recycling Program?

Where I grew up, recycling was not an action done by many in the community. As I grew older, I started to question why this was the case. I learned that, in many instances, those in my community did not recycle because they did not know what could and could not be recycled. I wanted to raise awareness for the cause, but I did not know how to tackle the problem. When I came to this school I was introduced to so many different ideas and cultures. When I saw the Recycling Program, I knew I had to join! I wanted to take action and help my community for the better. I have learned so much, and I look forward to learning more about recycling in the future.

How did the idea to make educational posters for the recycling bins come about?

At our school, we all strive to be principled, open-minded, and compassionate members of a global community. Recycling is fundamental to this mission, as we should all look for ways to make our community a better place. We can all benefit from recycling as it allows our planet to become a cleaner place, and it brings us together as a community to change the world for the better. However, there can be instances where people turn away from recycling, mainly due to a lack of knowledge on what should and should not be recycled.

When do you anticipate that the posters will be displayed on the recycling bins?

Our volunteers have been working very hard in the past weeks to create as many posters as possible! We hope to reach our end goal in the following weeks, and Ms. Morris will be laminating the posters. We hope that when this process is completed the posters will be put up around the school in the following days. I would like to say an enormous thank you to all of the volunteers who have helped with this project so far! This project would not be possible without their help. They have all worked so hard, and I can not thank them enough for what they have done.