When the Florida Gators come to Baton Rouge on Oct. 10, they will likely bring the season’s largest crowd to Tiger StadiumLSUPD estimates the Southeastern Conference showdown to bring 150,000 people to campus.And fans should use the recycling bins which are only now being placed in Tiger Stadium for the first time, despite the stadium’s 87-ton trash yield last season.The bottom-up movement pushing Death Valley to be the last Southeastern Conference stadium to have a recycling program came mainly from architecture senior Melissa Seanard’s class project which evolved to a 39-page report and gained the support of University Solid Waste Recycling manager Andres Harris.The trial run during the Florida game will test 25 recycling bins on the West side upper deck, and volunteers will monitor the bins to make future adjustments.We commend Seanard and Harris for making this project a reality, and we thank the Athletic Department and Student Government for a willingness to help with the project. Though Seanard’s endeavors are impressive and effective in part because of these group’s cooperation, we believe either of the two should have first started this program and kept LSU on par with our SEC peers.We urge both SG and the Athletic Department to help make this program staidum-wide before the last home game of the season, when LSU faces Arkansas on Nov. 28. Give Seanard and Harris funding or help find the funding to put recycling bins in the entire stadium. Help find volunteers make the program successful. Encourage fans to recycle appropriate materials with pregame videos and announcements. But most importantly, fans should put all appropriate material in the recycling bins rather than simply leaving recyclables in the seats or tossing them with the trash If the rest of the SEC can recycle in stadiums, you can bet Tigers will do it better.—-Contact The Editorial Board at [email protected]
Our View: Recycling program should be stadium-wide
September 22, 2009