By Elyssa Whaley/ne news editor
A NE student has more on her mind than just college.
She has a petition to implement mandatory recycling in the state of Texas.
According to a poll she conducted, more than 60 percent of people in the DFW area do not recycle.
“To hear this information would turn any good citizen into a tree hugger,” she said.
The student takes pride in being from Texas, and she believes it’s necessary to do everything possible to protect it.
“Most people think that they are not the problem or the solution, and that someone else will handle these issues when they arise,” she said. “It is exactly that kind of thinking that will have us looking around a state with no more landfill space.”
She said she has worked for several companies to get herself through college, and seeing the endless amount of paper used without being recycled pains her.
“I started a recycling program at the store that I work for now, and we can’t afford to pay for a recycling company to pick it up,” she said. “So I take the recycling once a week.”
The student said she has started a recycling program for a dental office and a restaurant chain as well.
If her petition became law, recycling would be free and easily available to all companies.
Her older sister is also helping her with the cause.
“I hope that people will be in the spirit to do some good, and that will result in a huge jump in signatures that will follow with people reposting the petition so their friends and loved ones can sign the petition too,” her sister said.
She also added that they have been designing fliers in Spanish, developing incentives and contacting companies to set up events.
“If someone signs and reposts the petition and then gets nine people to sign it, they will be in a monthly drawing to win a recycling logo T-shirt,” she said.
Jeffrey Moss, a former South student who has known the student since middle school, said he hopes to educate others about the importance of recycling through awareness.
“Many people don’t even recognize the fact that natural resources are not infinite,” Moss said. “The damage is not truly seen or will be seen in our lifetime, and that is the problem.”
People wanting to participate can go to www.facebook.com/texansforrecyclingpetition and share the post on their Facebook wall.
