Cutting recycling at residence halls was ridiculous mistake

I am currently a dorm resident and found the recent recycling news very disturbing. Upon moving into my dorm, I did notice we were told to put boxes next to the dumpster outside, which would then be recycled. Other than that, no effort has been made for any other materials to be recycled, including cardboard boxes after the first week of check-in. I hadn't heard the reasons for this until reading the article, "ResLife retires dorm recycling" printed Tuesday.

Whether or not it is due to budget cuts, I find it ridiculous. If they took recycling out of the budget, what kind of image is that sending to students, faculty and the public? It would send a message that recycling isn't important and shouldn't be a focus. However, Van Arsdel has made it clear that the emphasis is now on education in order to get recycling up and running. The expression "If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day; but if you teach a man to fish, he'll eat for a lifetime" applies to what he is saying. Van Arsdel wants to teach a man to fish; however, he is not providing any fish to be caught. More clearly, Van Arsdel supports recycling, but will not provide dorm residents with access to bins, dumpsters and collections. By taking away the access to recycle, students will most likely pass it by whether or not you tell them the important facts.

The question arises whether or not it is really important to recycle. As students, we use paper to print essays and reports, to take notes, read the Wildcat, and so forth on a daily basis. By simply just recycling paper, we could be helping the environment in many ways, all of which are more important than giving more funding to sports or buying a new edition of text books every year. I would like Van Arsdel to know that recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees, 6,953 gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil, 587 pounds of air pollution, 3.06 cubic yards of landfill space and 4,077 kilowatt hours of energy (stated DHEC Office of Solid Waste Reduction & Recycling). Hopefully he will be persuaded and a new program will start up rapidly. Until then, we students need to push forward for a recycling plan.

Laura Hartstone
aerospace engineering freshman