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Margaret Apperson
Mrs. Webster
English P. 3
May 16, 2016

English Idea Book Prompt #5-1

Craft an essay about the TGPLAN experience, choosing a
creative and engaging way to tell your story. How did you think
globally, problem-solve locally, and act neighborly?

The TGPLAN Story

A couple months back, we were tasked with the surprisingly hard project of
thinking globally, problem-solving locally, and acting neighborly. After spending an entire
week in Costa Rica learning about sustainable agriculture, environmental conservation,
and natural resource management, I was feeling inspired and passionate about the
environment, specifically waste management, and I immediately knew that I wanted my
TGPLAN project to be about this. When we got back to school the next week, we got
into groups of six or seven and began researching our different topics.
The first part of the assignment was to think globally. We had to start big and look
at the topic from a global perspective. My group and I were shocked by the statistics
that we found. The average American throws away about 4.3 pounds of trash every day.
We were even more startled when we found out that every year we fill enough garbage
trucks to form a line that would stretch from the earth, halfway to the moon
(majorwastedisposal.com). After finding these facts, my group decided that we wanted
to attempt to lower these numbers, or at least start small with our community.
The second step to our project was to problem-solve locally, so we began
researching waste management at a more local scale. We discovered that the city of
Austin sends approximately 477 tons of trash to the landfill daily. People have estimated
about 75% of this waste can be composted or recycled, but only about 30% of it actually
is. This is about the time when we initiated our driving question: How can we stream-line
compost/recycling in our community? We then had to think about the logistics of our
proposal and come up with a realistic plan. We began brainstorming different ways that
we could make a positive impact and decrease the amount of waste that is sent to the
landfill. One idea we threw out was to take an idea that we learned about in Costa Rica
and implement it into our community. We wanted to take the 3-sectioned trash cans with
waste, compost, and recycling that EARTH University has and bring it to certain parts of
Austin. As a group, we talked about different neighborhoods or restaurants that we
could talk to about collaborating with, but then we realized that the best place that we
could implement this system into was right in front of us: Austin High School.
The third segment of the TGPLAN project was to act neighborly. Our first step
was to meet with Mrs. Taylor, the principal, and discuss if this project was even possible.
She also traveled to Costa Rica with us, so she felt inspired by the trip like we were. As
it turns out, she had been wanting to do this project from the minute she began working
at Austin High. She had already been through the process of implementing this system
at her old school three years ago. Mrs. Taylor then told us who we needed to contact for
the next steps and once we did that, come back to her with a timeline of our project. We
met with Jennifer Cregar, the sustainability coordinator for the Austin Independent
School District, and she helped us create the timeline. She told us who we needed to
talk to, different dates that would be important, suggested meetings to attend, and gave

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us other helpful information. Then we met with Nat, the head custodian of the school,
and we asked his permission since this system is more than 90% custodial effort. Mrs.
Taylor also suggested touring the campus of Small Middle School, her old school, since
they have had the 3-sectioned trash cans for a couple years now. A few students and I
went during their lunch to see the system in action, and we also talked to their principal
and a few of their custodians. They told us about the different difficulties of the system,
but how they have changed a few things to adapt to it. After meeting with Jennifer
Cregar and Small Middle School, we began to realize how difficult this project really
would be.
I cant speak for my group members, but I know that I initially thought that it
would be much, much simpler than it ended up being. Our project didnt just finish after
we implemented the trash cans like most of the other students TGPLAN projects did.
Instead, we also had to focus on the aftermath and what the system would look like in
the future. We had to consider the definite possibility of many students not following the
rules of the trash cans. Nat, the head custodian, also informed us of the fact that Austin
High does not have the man power to keep up a system as large as this one, and we
had to plan around that. Then we found out that we wouldnt get the go from Jennifer
Cregar until the end of April or early May and that the trash cans wouldnt even be on
campus until the start of next year. Our Take Action segment of this project was due
early April, so we werent even sure that this project would work for us after everything
we had been through already. Im not going to lie; this was one of the most stressful
moments Ive had in my entire life. Thankfully, we talked to the teachers about this little
obstacle, and they told us that as long as we promised we would have the trash cans
implemented by next year, we could continue with this project.
I have never had to be so independent until I was tasked with this TGPLAN
project. We had to interview experts, work with professionals, negotiate costs, and
consider any possible altercations in the future. This project wont just help temporarily,
but if we are successful, it will make a permanent impact for years and years to come.

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Works Cited
Trash Facts. Major Waste Disposal. N.p., n.d. Web.