Lake Shore High School makes strong efforts to maintain its beauty and cleanliness. The school borders Lake St. Clair, so keeping trash away from the water and surrounding areas is important. However, Lake Shore has recently gotten many complaints about its trash-contaminated parking lot.

When school is dismissed and the parking lot is emptied, piles of garbage are revealed. Citizens of St. Clair Shores have complained and expressed concern about the increased risk of pollution. The parking lot is covered in boxes, plastic water bottles, plastic bags, wrappers and other easily disposable items. 

Dr. Janelle Bross, principal at Lake Shore High School, said, “We are aware of there being trash in the parking lot. I wish that students that purposefully litter instead of properly disposing of their trash would take a little extra time and have a little extra pride in our grounds. Having pizza boxes and papers and other garbage floating around looks…for lack of a better word…trashy.”

Dr. Bross acknowledges the littering problem at Lake Shore and has been evaluating the necessary steps to fix it ever since. There have been many suggestions as to how to resolve this issue, however, actions have yet to take place.

Dr. Bross said, “For next year, we will look at working with some of our student groups (like Student Congress and our Eco Club) to have a regular cleanup effort in place.”

Another common suggestion has been to add large trash cans outside in the parking lot. 

Dr. Bross said, “We have talked to the maintenance department about adding some trash cans which I think would help to some degree.  However, as we know from looking around our community, even with an abundance of trash cans in a location, people still litter.”

Addyson Jackman, a sophomore at Lake Shore High School said, “I don’t think adding garbage cans to the parking lot will do anything to stop littering. Garbage cans don’t stop kids from littering inside the school, so adding them outside probably won’t be much different.”

Alfredo Caicedo, a sophomore at Lake Shore said, “I often find trash in parking spots upon arriving here in the morning, and I think that it’s a bad look for our school.”

Caicedo recognizes the common problem prevalent in the parking lot. Cleaning up the school is a project that many students wish to be prioritized. 

“Most public places have outdoor trash cans so I also believe our school should have them. They’re already renovating everything so I think it is a good idea,” said Caicedo.

Littering is a personal choice. It is important to understand the harmful effects of littering such as polluting the planet. Lake Shore High School is recognizing the littering problem and coming up with steps to resolve it. The cleanliness of Lake Shore’s parking lot is in the hands of everybody who uses it. It is necessary to do the right thing and keep the environment free of garbage.