While some students refill their eco-friendly water bottles from the tap, others grab new plastic ones each day.

    The purpose of using an eco-friendly water bottle is to stop making plastic and polluting the earth. The equivalent of 2 billion half-liter bottles of water were shipped to U.S. ports, creating thousands of tons global warming pollution and other air pollution, according to Natural Resources Defense Council. It doesn’t seem like students understand the potential risk of the world being slowly destroyed.

The school’s Environmental Club helped the school earn “Evergreen” status from the Macomb County Green School Board, but finding trash around the community and seeing empty recycling bins makes us look not so green.

 Americans produced enough trash to circle the earth 24 times in 2009, according to Keep America Beautiful.

    Students disrespect towards their own community is surprising. Empty plastic water bottles, cans and chip bags are scattered throughout close neighborhoods and side roads.

Hang on to an empty water bottle or trash until there’s a recycling bin or garbage in view; it is one step closer to making the environment cleaner. Besides, it’s not that hard. Not to mention, littering is a crime.

Students don’t realize the damage they create to their future world. The more people who don’t care, the worse the environment will become. If this problem isn’t taken care of soon, just picture the world as a huge garbage dump.

Students need to take action.

Get involved by joining the Environmental Club. Give back to the environment by choosing paper over plastic at the grocery store and reusing items. Become more informed on how to protect the earth by belonging to organizations like Environment Michigan or Michigan Nature Association. Every little act of kindness is a big step forward.

The earth is like a giving tree. Don’t ruin it.