Junior Tena Gordon has been helping the Student Government Association achieve its goal of sprucing up the school campus by picking up trash every Tuesday.

“Our next step is going to be to beautify the school in some way,” sponsor Jessica Hartman said.

“I had been wanting West Shore to recycle from last year,” Gordon said. “SGA is more active this year and president Joanna [LaTorre] had campaigned promising a beautification committee, so I am using that as my avenue.”

Gordon’s main goal however is to implement a sustainable recycling program for students.

“I decided to do trash pickups while the SGA officers, Ms. Hartman, and I worked on the logistics of the recycling program,” Gordon said.

Gordon is also receiving volunteer hours from trash pickups and is using them for a class.

“I am in the Citizen Scholar Program at Eastern Florida State College, so I needed service learning hours related to my coursework,” Gordon said. “I am in environmental science at EFSC, so that’s the connection.”

Gordon also is keeping the Indian River Lagoon in mind during the weekly pickups.

“Chemicals from trash left outside leech into the aquifer harming the Indian River Lagoon wildlife and contaminating our water supply,” Gordon said. “Pollutants and bacteria from  [trash] that can end up in the IRL, harming sea grass, green turtles and bottlenose dolphins.”

By Meerab Shahzad