Composting policy must be changed to reduce waste

The environment is hurting and we need to help. We are concerned youth at Silver Creek High School and seeking change. The composting policy in the Front Range area was recently changed in April of 2023. A1 (the composting facility in Front Range) does not accept compostable items like compostable plates, utensils, etc., and only accepts food scraps and yard waste.

This limits what waste can be eliminated in schools. Currently, schools are using single-use utensils, causing a lot of unnecessary waste. We are hoping to change this policy and start using compostable utensils in schools, but this would not be beneficial since A1 will not currently accept compostable items like that.

We recently talked to representatives from Ecostar Schools and the Energy and Sustainability Specialist. They agreed that the first thing that needs to change is the compostable policy. Since A1 decided to change the policy in 2023 due to contamination, we are suggesting that volunteers help sort through compost and lead civilians in what can and cannot be composted at the compost bins.

In conclusion, we are hoping that this policy can be changed. Not being able to compost compostable items has become very harmful to the environment. We understand that contamination in the compost is a problem, but we are confident that there is a way to overcome that obstacle. Additionally, a change in the composting policy would help reduce waste in schools. Not only from compostable containers used during hot lunch but also the use of compostable utensils would be much more beneficial for waste reduction in schools. Please let us know your thoughts.

— Sienna Weber and Anna Trochman, Longmont

The caged bird sang

They were trapped. The remnants of a bombed building their only shelter. Jed was watching Cella unfold a cardboard ammunition box and refold it along different lines to make an origami dove. He shrugged and kicked some spent shells toward her.

He hissed, “Try using these to whistle peace songs.”

Cella picked up a shell with a bandaged hand and brought it to her cracked lips. She blew air across the metal rim while humming “Imagine” by John Lenon.

“What the heck are you doing? The devil will be ice skating before anyone dares to join you.”

Suddenly, a bird, a Palestine Sunbird, landed on a broken branch of a nearby olive tree and began to sing.

The above fictional story illustrates how we can be trapped, caged, by war. The caged bird sang. In reality, we should shout. Let’s shout: “Cease fire now!”

Let’s urge the Boulder City Council to pass a resolution calling for: climate action, not war.

— Kristen Marshall, Boulder

Don’t take your freedom and blessings for granted

I believe the reason our government established Veterans Day, to be celebrated yearly on November 11, was to fulfill two definitions of the word honor. One was to formalize the act of regarding veterans with deep respect and the other was to fulfill an obligation to them that their willingness to serve an undeniable need will never be forgotten.

My father was stationed on the USS Pennsylvania in Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, when he was 19 years old. As I’ve done many times, I can imagine him standing on the deck after breakfast, smoking a cigarette, as he looked up and saw hundreds of Japanese bombers swooping in from above, delivering their sickening cargo amidst the smoke and screams below. That day illustrated that there is an undeniable need in our world and anyone who thinks otherwise is not facing the truth about what a people’s beliefs will drive them to.

About thirty years later, after never having spoken about that December day, my father shook my hand as he saw me leave to ship over to Vietnam. Some men and women have service in their blood, and they don’t question it. Mark Milley, John McCain, Audie Murphy, George Washington and so many, many more accepted their service with their solemn personal oath to do their damnedest to survive and maybe die to ensure a not so simple ideal, freedom.

If you have to ask what’s in it for the veterans, you’re taking your freedom and blessings for granted.

— Chris Lindenberger, Greeley