The Help

What do a bitter black maid, a friend with a loose tongue, and a white scholar without a husband have in common? Set in Jackson, Mississippi, 1962, three women band together to write a book with the potential to change the perception of a small town.

Man’s Search for Meaning is a philosophical narrative written by a Holocaust survivor. Along with recounting his experiences, he shares what he learned and what he believes to be the overall meaning of human life.

“There are many levels to this book and it really makes you think.”

In March 2021, our lives were in chaos. The pandemic held a firm grip over lives globally, and political instability wreaked havoc — that’s only the beginning of a very long list. From coping with the year before and the year to come, we exacerbated an existing culture of instant gratification. The mind-numbing experience of apps like TikTok were a guilty pleasure. Those eight seconds of reprieve from the world’s crises were all I needed to form an addictive habit of mindlessly scrolling on various social media and entertainment apps. It had suddenly become rare to think about

So there I was, on my couch, scrolling mindlessly on Netflix to watch anything when a new documentary came out. Seaspiracy, directed and starred by Ali Tabrizi, was a story about the environmental impact of fishing and how we’ve turned our oceans into a toxic, plastic soup. In that hour, I had to confront a story that wasn’t mine — one I had

I stopped using Ziploc bags because I learned they contributed to the rising number of micro-plastics (that now, according to Seaspiracy, outnumber the stars in the milky way galaxy by at least 500 times). I always tried to clean my plate and not use single-use plastics. However, what might be even better is not just me, but 2,000 other students making small efforts too. On campus, the half-eaten pizza slice being thrown away at lunch contributes to the 562,442 tons of waste schools, and universities generate trash annually throughout California. Many policies and programs have been implemented in various districts to combat this staggering amount of waste, but what exactly is Rocklin High School (RHS) doing? Better yet, what are we, as a whole, doing as a community?

I stopped using Ziploc bags because I learned they contributed to the rising number of micro-plastics (that now, according to Seaspiracy, outnumber the stars in the milky way galaxy by at least 500 times). I always tried to clean my plate and not use single-use plastics. However, what might be even better is not just me, but 2,000 other students making small efforts too. On campus, half-eaten pizza slices being thrown away at lunch contributes to the 562,442 tons of waste that schools and universities generate annually throughout California. Many policies and programs have been implemented in various districts to combat this stagger ing amount of waste, but what exactly is Rocklin High School (RHS) doing? Better yet, what are we doing as a community? “The concept of waste means that we’re wasting money and we’re wasting re source[s],” explained AP Environmental Science teacher Bill Kimmell. “... whenever you're wasting, you’re basically taking away from either some body else or the next gen eration.” Excess trash bears the most potential harm to wildlife and communities and has implications that reach deep into the future, but dealing with it is one of the first steps to taking care of our planet. However, that step might not be what you think it is — it just might be the opposite.

Living in a cleaner world does not mean putting our trash into trash cans or even sorting them into fancy categories. All it takes is limiting the number of trash cans and trying to use them less. Don’t get me wrong — you should not leave trash on the floor, but instead, try not to generate it in the first place.

According to Mr. Kimmel, “The best thing you can do is not consume something in the first place.”

Rather than sorting that half-eaten slice of pizza into a compost bin, it would make more sense if the student finished the slice, didn't get one in the first place, or saved it for later. Reducing the amount of trash is not a new concept.

It’s an old story that has been told for decades, but no one is listening. While it's easy not to care, it's about time we did.

“Not to feel guilty, but to say where can I, with my life, do things to be a better consumer — a smarter consumer can make all the difference.”

It’s hard to imagine how we’re a part of something bigger and more important than our own lives, but we are. The current situation with our planet is a cry for help that will take millions and millions of years to recover. Give future genera tions the privileges you enjoy now — a world abundant with beauty, color, and life. It’s not too late.

By: Saraswathi Murugan, Staff Reporter