Teen at Colorado Springs High School Creates Project to Increase Recycling Awareness

A student in Colorado Springs has designed a waste management project through the Climate Leaders Fellowship hoping to increase recycling awareness.

Aryan Tuteja, a sophomore at Discovery Canyon Campus High School says that he enjoys problem solving, and he’s aiming that interest at recycling awareness.

“It gets complex in the middle, while you’re solving a problem, but the answer, when you get to it, is usually simple,” said Tuteja. “And it feels relieving, almost, to get to the answer after all those complex steps.”

The Climate Leaders Fellowship, a collaborative leadership program provided by Stanford University Deliberative Democracy Lab and the Rustic Pathways Foundation, is where Tuteja designed a waste management project with the goal of raising awareness at his school and community of the harm that improper waste disposal has on the environment. Tuteja’s project also sets out to let residents of Colorado Springs know of the resources available to them for proper environmental care.

As a freshman, Tuteja set up an online survey at his school to learn how many students and staff members recycle at their homes, and he was let down by the results. According to Tuteja’s poll, more than 20% of people were unaware of the potential harm of not recycling, and they were unaware of the resources available to them.

“So, I made a website to increase awareness about different waste management services in the Springs, so people will recycle or compost more,” Tuteja said.

Tuteja’s website comes with an impactful call to action.

“Our planet is facing a life-threatening disease. Humans are dumping 2.33 billion tons of trash each year. Our planet cannot sustain this. We are obliterating everything we have invested in since the beginning of time. Now we must take action.”

The website provides information about recycling, composting, and incineration in order to help reduce the amount of waste heading to landfills. Also, the website accepts donations to support the global recycling drive.

Read the full article here.