To the Editor:
I think it is about time that our University took some responsibility in protecting our natural resources. With increasing pressure on said resources, college campuses have come to play an important role in environmental stewardship, and Saint Louis University could definitely make a significant difference.
While in some of the buildings and residence halls on campus there are bins for bottles, there is a lot more that could be done. The most obvious and influential step to take would be efforts to recycle paper. A college campus, of all places, has copious amounts of used notebooks, newspapers and other paper items that are just tossed in with the regular trash. In addition, our trash rooms are often piled with so many cardboard boxes that a recycle bin would be quickly filled.
Besides all of the benefits to the community and environment, an on campus-recycling program could greatly benefit our own college community. Local churches hosting recycling programs that would be similar, if not considerably smaller, than a program could be at SLU, make a good amount of money from this resource. There is no reason that SLU could not do the same.
As with most topics, the Internet has a broad base of both local information on recycling as well as information into other colleges’ programs. I think that, with the insights of others’ experiences, and an energetic response from students on campus, we could really do something; and that although it may not seem like the most important issue, it could really have an impact.
Mallory Schwarz
Freshman, College of Arts & Sciences