As the famous Muppet Kermit the Frog once said, “It’s not easy being Green.”

In a city like Austin, where leaders have passed resolutions calling for “zero waste” by the year 2040, it might be assumed that recycling and waste reduction efforts are on autopilot with all things running smoothly.

However, last year some students and teachers discovered that very little recycling is actually occurring at Akins. The reasons are many: overworked custodians, no labeled recycle bins in common areas and a lack of coordinated effort among the staff, teachers and students.

In an attempt, to turn things around, a group of students and teachers began meeting last year to brainstorm what they could do to decrease the amount of waste the campus throws in the landfill. With the help of science teachers Matt Stricklen and Kristen Aaltonen, seniors Jesus Tovar and Cody Unwin began the work of reviving the campus Green Teens group last year after it had gone defunct and lost its faculty sponsor.

Unwin said his goal for Green Teens is for students to respect the campus and to clean it up and recycle.

“You walk around the courtyard and see trash on top of the trashcan, and we’re trying to stop things like that,” he said.

One of the initiatives they are planning is getting more students involved by having them take the blue recycle bins in certain teachers’ rooms to the dumpsters outside during FIT so the custodians don’t have to deal with it. The program is partnered with Keep Austin Beautiful, which helps support schools with efforts to decrease waste. Along with being partnered with Keep Austin Beautiful, they are a huge  sponsor to Green Teens.

Green Teens has also helped with general campus beautification by walking along First Street, picking up trash all along the way. This is one of the things done to begin the process, taking  steps towards pick actions to soon be made for the group.

Green Teens also works closely with the new Just Keep Livin club, which focuses on fitness, wellness, service and nutrition. On Nov. 12, members of the groups visited the Festival Beach Food Forest, which is a pilot project that grows edible forest gardens on public land. Green Teens volunteered, helping plant gardens.

They also are working to better sign-age posted on the recycle dumpsters to make it more clear which ones accept recyclable items and making signs so people understand what belongs into the recycle.

Long term goals include starting a compost area, a garden. But the first step towards this would be getting more students to join the club. With the help from students and more teacher could really get the group to create more a success.

Green Teens meets every Monday and Wednesday in room 168. So come out and visit the club! Take a stand in making Akins green, make a change in our school.