Begin with the Bin offered a writing competition at beginwiththebin.org managed by the National Waste and Recycling Association. At AHS, all 24 journalism students picked one of the two topics offered and entered into the competition. Topic one was “What does my garbage man mean to me?” and topic two was “What will waste management and recycling look like in the year 2050.”

There were first, second, and third places awarded for each topic. First place won $1,000.

Senior Caroline Bong won third place for her submission for topic one, “What my Garbage Man Means to Me.” She won $250.

Bong says, “I’m happy I won because I won money. I chose this topic because it seemed more interesting to me than the other one.”

Junior Erin Novak won third place for article concerning topic two, titled, “Future of Garbage: 2050.”

Senior India Martin, who also did topic two, won first place, for her article, “The Future of Recycling Looks Grim.”

Martin, on winning, says, “I didn’t really react when I found out I won because I thought it was rigged and people got disqualified.”

Here is an excerpt from Martin’s article about the future of waste management and recycling:

“In the year 2050, I do not believe the United States will have changed its ways for the better. I believe the American people will still have the same general regulations concerning recycling. If no progress has been made by 2050, and if every act presented to Congress remains to be shot down, waste management the United States will remain the same.”

Martin received $1,000 for placing first even though she thought she wouldn’t win.

Novak says, “I chose topic two because it seemed easier to write about because I could come up with lots of ideas.”

This was a nationwide offered competition so it would be a challenging thing to win because it was a nationwide competition.

Each article was submitted to beginwiththebin.org and then public voted for which article they thought was the best.

Novak says, “I tried getting lots of votes at first, but then everyone was trying to cheat so I gave up. After all that, I was surprised I won.”

Using proxy sites and getting around the website, some people were cheating the votes.

Bong wrote about what her garbage man means to her. She wrote in her paper, “According to Clean Air Council.com, over seven billion pounds of trash are thrown away each year and 18 million pounds of bottles and paper are recycled each year.  In the United States alone, there are approximately eight different jobs that specifically work on a daily basis to keep our environments clean—through removing this litter.  The most common of these jobs are garbage men.”

Novak, who wrote about what waste management and recycling will look like in the year 2050, wrote, “By 2050, all homes will have an indoor garbage chute where people can get rid of all trash. Consumers will not have to do any work when throwing away their garbage.  This chute will be like a vacuum powered large tube that will go through your house and underground to connect to an underground community chute. There will be no need for smelly garbage bins, or having pain of taking a garbage bags outside. Instead of garbage bins, there will be public garbage chutes everywhere. Around every corner, there will be a garbage chute that anyone can use. Every road, gas station, and business will have garbage chutes that people can use to prevent trash from ending up on the road.”