Whether you believe in climate change or not, litter is an eyesore.
Last week I went on a run around campus, and I was repulsed at the amount of litter in the Corporation Canal where East Chimes Street turns into Carlotta Street. It is unarguable that litter is bad and that recycling is good. With a campus as large as ours it is even more important to properly dispose of our trash in order to keep LSU safe and beautiful.
If you have ever tailgated on campus, you are well aware that there is a lot of drinking both from bottles and cans. If you go walk on the Parade Ground after the game has started, you will see litter everywhere, and you may even see individuals working to collect all of this trash.
LSU makes donations to groups around Baton Rouge to help clean the campus and the stadium the day of games and the day after. With the help of these volunteer hours and individuals who recycle throughout the day, LSU was able to win the 2015 GameDay Recycling Challenge, leading the nation in total recycling with 86,400 lbs.
“Together, the participating colleges and universities recycled or reused 2.1 million pounds of bottles, cans, paper, cardboard and other materials, in addition to composting or recovering 457,000 pounds of food organics. Diverting these materials from the landfill prevented the release of an estimated 3,650 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2E). This is equivalent to eliminating the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 768 passenger vehicles, or the emissions produced by the annual electricity use of 333 households,” according to a news release.
With LSU having one of the top recycling programs, it provides recycling services for commingled recycling, vegetative debris, electronic waste, batteries, scrap metal, toner and ink cartridges, concrete and fluorescent bulbs, motor oil and hazardous waste, making recycling an easy task. All you must do is bring those items to the designated locations which can be found on http://lsu.edu/sustainability/recycling/.
No matter your political views, try to remember what an impact recycling has on the world and the community so that together we can make LSU beautiful again.