The environmental revolution that occurred in the early 1970’s made it abundantly clear to Americans for the first time that we were not doing enough to protect our world. While there was a resurgence of activism during the early 1990’s, the environment has taken a backseat to other hot button issues in recent years. At Georgetown, recycling has taken a dramatic dive in the past few years. After recycling 43 percent of its waste in 1996, the University only reported recycling 15 percent of its waste this year. While the administration should work to address its shortcomings, students need to become more aware of their own role in solving this massive problem.
Georgetown students need to know that they can make a significant contribution to campus recycling with only minimal effort. As anyone who has been on campus knows, recycling areas often look more like war zones, especially the mornings after weekend nights. While this is partially the University’s fault for not providing enough accessible recycling bins, many students also share the blame for their apathy. Actions such as saving a used copy of this paper and throwing it away in the newspaper bin or making sure that everyone who attends a party at your apartment tosses their empties into a bag that will later be recycled can make a big difference. An even more productive endeavor in this regard would be to encourage friends to recycle their used goods.
Any efforts we can make to show our appreciation for the beautiful local environment we are blessed with are worthwhile ones. Maintaining a cleaner campus not only sets a good example for other institutions to follow, it also makes our university more appealing to perspective students and other visitors whose first impressions of the campus mean a lot in formulating lasting opinions about Georgetown and the students who go to school here. Now that major construction projects are coming to an end, it’s time to make on-campus recycling a central priority again.
