The Facility Services in Loudoun County Public Schools provides safety, maintenance, environmental, custodial, and plant operation services throughout LCPS schools. Their main mission is providing “quality services to all of our students, staff and community in an efficient and professional manner that ensures a safe, well-maintained instructional environment.” The Environmental Club strives to make sure these services are used at Rock Ridge, and aids their goals to do so. 

LCPS currently follows the LCPS Recycling Program, which was established in 1991. Under this program, the Facilities Service Department provides bins to all LCPS schools and facilities to recycle cardboard, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, bi-metal cans, white and colored paper, newspaper, and fluorescent light tubes. 

Indoor containers are designated to collect white and colored paper as well as newspapers, with special indoor containers for aluminum cans and plastic bottles. Outdoor containers are used to gather aluminum, plastic, bi-metal cans, paper, and cardboard. 

Under the LCPS Recycling Program, the Director of Facilities Services is the program manager for the recycling program. Their responsibilities include “providing training [for] improving school recycling activities.” Other responsibilities include creating partnerships with recycling companies, and providing recycling bins to collect “recycling commodities” at schools and administrative facilities. According to LCPS, the principal of each school is responsible for implementing and enforcing these recycling programs at their school.

In an effort to make a positive impact on the school’s carbon footprint, the Environmental Club has tried to ensure that all students and teachers follow the recycling program by asking teachers if they want to participate in a future recycling program. Sponsored by science teacher Micheal Clear, the club also seeks to increase awareness regarding environmental preservation. “We want to raise awareness on environmental issues and fundraise for school recycling,” Preethi Reddy, the Environmental Club’s social media manager, said.

In past school years, such as 2018-2019, environmental club members would collect recycling bins from teachers at the end of the day to recycle the recycling commodities. However, the students who provided this service have since graduated, and this daily recycling is no longer in service.

Today, the club’s main goals include ensuring that the school recycles, but there proves a challenge— funding. To combat this problem, the club is planning to establish fundraising plans with the hope of using the money to appeal to the administration team in their request to reinstall recycling in the school.

Along with pushing for school recycling, the club has been active in the larger Loudoun County community. “We had our first trail clean up on [Nov. 14],” senior Shanu Gopinathan, vice president of the Environmental Club, said. “We were able to [collect] about fifteen bags of trash.”

Along with the trail clean-up, the Environmental Club is looking to help renovate Rock Ridge in partnership with the PTSO. “The PTSO is planning to beautify [the courtyard] and make it a hangout spot,” Reddy said. “[We] are going to help fundraise and build a school garden.”

The Environmental Club continues to make a positive mark on the world through their multiple volunteering projects. “There’s just a lot of plastic if you think about it and recycling is always the best way to [help the environment],” Gopinathan said. “It’s also the bare minimum to help the environment, so it should definitely be done.” 

In the new semester, the club continues to make plans to beautify the new courtyards, with the help of the PTSO.