A waterlogged pass. Crumpled wrappers. A dented bottle cap. The ever-present circles of gum smashed into the pavement.

All this and more, are what students see just looking out the window. And temperatures are not even that warm. When hordes of students start to eat lunch outside, leaving their trash behind there will be a lot more, unless everyone does one simple thing: stop littering.

To put it simply, litter is gross. No one likes tracking old milk inside, or having to move dirty napkins and empty trays out of the way just to sit on the bleachers. When the courtyard starts literally drawing flies, things have gone far enough. Students shouldn’t have to deal with other people’s trash, but it becomes the problem of everyone on campus.

Not only is litter a problem for Northtown students and staff, but it also makes the school look bad. Open lunch is a privilage and if the North Kansas City community looks across the street and sees a campus that resembles a landfill, they might change their minds. And other high schools will find it easy to feel superior if our school is an eyesore. Show some pride and keep the school clean.

Finally, litter isn’t just a temporary inconvenience. It’s very permanent. A lot of the trash students carelessly toss over their shoulders will be around a lot longer than they think. Forget the incoming freshman class – some of this stuff will be there when the seniors’ ancestors graduate. A typical sheet of paper takes three months to break down. A milk carton takes five years. Cellophane? 400 years. And substances like aluminum foil, Styrofoam, and the gum that dots the sidewalks may be around forever.

Everyone wants a great high school experience. A campus that’s a minefield to navigate, a source of local shame, and a junk yard until the next ice age is no part of that. But avoiding it isn’t that hard. All students have to do is use the trash cans provided all over campus. It’s probably the easiest assignment they’ll ever have.