Recycling awareness needs to be increased

COMMENTARY
Laura McFarland

Done with that newspaper? Throw it in the trash.

Going to sit down and eat in The Main? Grab the Styrofoam box.

Mailbox filled with those annoying fliers? Reach over and pop it in the garbage, because obviously, walking the extra two steps to the little recycling box on the table is too much work.

For as long as I can remember, I have been hearing about the importance of recycling from science teachers, environmentalists and even cartoons on TV. The messages were always aimed at the same thing: Recycling is important because it makes people think about their environment and take a hand in preserving it.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Web site, in 2000, U.S. residents, businesses and institutions produced 232 million tons of solid waste, which is approximately 4.6 pounds of waste per person per day. Of those items that were thrown away, 37.4 percent were paper products, 10.7 percent were plastic, 7.8 percent were metal and 5.5 percent were glass.

All that just thrown away, and more than half of it could have been recycled.

I will be the first to admit that there are times an opportunity to recycle is right in front of me and, for various reasons, I don’t take it. So, clearly, I have no right to chastise people for not recycling 100 percent of the time.

But in a recent conversation, some friends were talking about how hard it is to recycle because TCU never gives them any opportunities. This I could not believe.

Whether you realize it or not, TCU has made an effort to get people to recycle.

Residence hall trash rooms have boxes clearly marked and set aside for recycling paper, the most common type of trash. Paper products might not seem like such a big deal.

It seems harmless enough when you don’t like what you’ve written to crumple it up and throw it away, but think about how many of those insignificant pieces of paper you throw away every day. We don’t even think about it when we’re doing it, and that is how the landfills get full of millions of tons of paper.

Look around for just a few seconds and you’ll probably see a bin or trash can designated for paper. The university puts them there, but they can’t make you use them. That decision is up to you.

The Main stopped keeping Styrofoam boxes behind the serving counters so people have to pick up the boxes before entering the serving area. So why don’t more people use plates? Getting the plate isn’t hard and taking it to the little conveyor belt after you eat won’t take more than a minute.

Granted, TCU is not a model for the perfect recycling program. Some residence halls and all of the other buildings still need can and bottle bins. Recycling awareness among students and university employees needs to be increased. We’re not there by a long shot.

But the university has made an effort, which is a lot more than some students are doing. It’s done some of its part. Now it’s up to students to give a little.

Laura McFarland is a senior news-editorial journalism and English major from Houston.