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October 18, 2005
Down in the dump: student frets about campus recycling
Two adorable, hazel eyes scan the area around the dumpster, alert and searching for subtle indications of danger. As I walk by, a squirrel emerges victorious from the garbage with this trip’s treasures: a long strip of crisp newspaper. That paper could have been recycled.
While regrettably depriving Hamline’s dumpster-diving rodents of some of their most desired findings, the benefits of recycling are promulgated universally. Student and environmental organizations worldwide trumpet the necessity for, and exhilaration of, sorting garbage into recycling bins. And although there’s hardly enough time to look days ahead in our schedule planners, the moment may come when we’ll find ourselves pushing a baby stroller in the park worrying about combating the scarcity of natural resources for coming generations.
A lot of lip service is paid to recycling, but trash receptacles sill overflow with plastic pop bottles and paper
handouts. A few people strongly advocate recycling but don’t bring their own mayonnaise jars to the glass
bins, like religious zealots that preach on the curb-side but sleep-in during church on Sunday.
Many students appear concerned about environmental preservation, but their willingness to recycle is compromised by a lack of knowledge about on-campus resources. The first couple weeks of school were punctuated by short bursts of tears caused by the jarring of my insides from each Diet Coke can I painfully put in with the other trash. I didn’t know where to find the recycling in my dorm and only discovered the bins I had actually been walking past everyday when I asked more people about it. When recycling is separated from the regular trash, students might have more of an inclination not to recycle because there are no incentives to seek it out.
Since recycling utilities can be a little hidden, it would eliminate bin location uncertainty to have a short list of recycling resources given to each on-campus student, possibly just via e-mail. Until that hopeful dream is realized though, a few of the places recycling bins can be found are: 1st floor Drew near the vending machines, in the Heights garbage rooms on 1st floor, and at least 1st and 3rd floor of Manor. Let’s put paper in the bins, not in our squirrels.
Posted by msveum at October 18, 2005 11:16 AM
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