Fling Cleaning

Spring Fling is once again upon us here at Plymouth State University, but ake a minute to remember last year’s Spring Fling-think about the days after, specifically the campus itself. In the midst of the party, it is easy to forget about our responsibility to each other, our campus, and the community. After students exited the grounds of the Guster show last May, they waded through empty cups, newspapers, bottles, shoes, and whatever else people decided to leave behind. Campus also looks like this after students celebrate a weekend of drinking. Keystone boxes, the Plymouth tumbleweed, blow in all directions. It isn’t just because the students here at PSU are lazy. Trashcans are few and far between, and the ones that are there are often overflowing with trash. It isn’t uncommon to see bottles and papers piled on the floor around the trashcans, which eventually get blown or washed away. Where do these things go? “Out of sight, out of mind” is something many of us believe unintentionally, that is the problem. While it may be out of sight, it isn’t for good, and it definitely isn’t off the mind of Mother Nature. The trash found on the side of the road eventually makes its way to lakes, rivers, oceans, and reservoirs. Living in the mountains, toxic runoff moves quickly to lower ground soil and water. According to the Environmental Protection Association (EPA), businesses, institutions, and citizens threw away over 229 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) in 2001. Broken down, this means 4.4 pounds per person every day. Paper, yard trimmings, and food waste made up fifty percent of the MSW (trash before recycling) in the same year. Recycling took away 68 million tons of this. This still leaves the US with 161 million tons of trash that needs to be put somewhere, namely landfills. A landfill isn’t just a hole in the ground. Landfills are placed in geographically strategic areas, where runoff can be predicted and caught. It has a bottom liner that keeps chemicals from running into the ground. Liners don’t catch everything, especially as the landfill gets larger, but it does reduce the amount of runoff. Made from clay, grain, and vegetation, covers are put on top of landfills to keep trash in. Erosion wears away at covers, and animals have been known to burrow between the layers, causing toxins to escape. Frequent or larger trashcans aren’t the only things missing from the Plymouth State University campus. Recycling bins are nearly impossible to find, especially outside. In the dorms, the only recycling resources are cardboard boxes on the first floor. If there are no recycling resources available, how are we expected to recycle? While it is true that massive bright blue boxes are unsightly, larger versions of the combination trash/recycling bins that are on the PSU campus aren’t. Most students would prefer to see more trashcans on the sidewalk rather than boxes and cans blowing everywhere. Many cities don’t have recycling programs because they are so costly, especially in the beginning stages. Our current administration hasn’t done mush to help recycling, but it hasn’t cut funds either, although the past few years have shown dramatic increases in environmental degradation and pollution.Recycling is proven to reduce air pollution. Melting down plastics and tins takes less energy and time than making plastic and mining ore. The Anchorage Recycling Center reports that it takes 94 percent less energy to recycle aluminum than smelt the ore.The EPA sites some of the most productive ways to recycle. Source reduction is the best way to eliminate waste. Source reduction means having less to throw away. “Practices such as grass recycling, backyard composting, two-sided copying of paper, and transport packaging reduction by industry have yielded substantial benefits through source reduction,” reports www.epa.gov.This isn’t a suggestion to not have a good time this weekend. It’s merely a memo that while the campus rages, the environment feels the permanent effect. The environmental headache isn’t gone by Monday morning. Changing your lifestyle is a lot to ask, but walking over to a trash can isn’t. Neither is emptying it more often. This weekend, as we celebrate the end of another semester, we should celebrate the environment as well- especially with all the views right in the back yard of Plymouth. Together, differences are made, as long as all sides do their part.