2008 Woodie Awards
Eco-Mind
Emily Piccone
Issue date: 2/6/07 Section: B Side
For a moment, I thought that it might have been some form of mod¬ern art.
Colorful, shiny, empty beer boxes littered the parking lot, and with one glance, I could count at least 50. I was in the parking lot behind Simpson, and it seemed that the boxes outnumbered the cars. I quick¬ly realized that this was no art student's project, but the proj¬ect of careless students, a cul¬mination of Friday and Satur¬day night laziness.
My stop at the parking lot was on my way back from some Sunday afternoon sled¬ding. After an hour or two of fun in the snow, my friends and I decided to head back to the dorm to warm up and start some work.
But we had to stop and stare at what appeared to be a landfill of beer parapherna¬lia. We didn't hesitate to start collecting and collapsing the empties, and soon the sled was overflowing with boxes, cans and bottles. On our way back to the dorm, with a sled filled with Pabst, Bud light and Key¬stone remnants, we received more than a few stares from students walking by.
Why? Should we be stared at for caring about our school and for picking up trash? How about giving stares at the peo¬ple who threw these boxes and cans on the ground, casually littering as if someone had de¬clared it OK.
This isn't just another la¬ment about recycling, or an¬other plea to "give a hoot and don't pollute." This is a look at how we treat our school, the University that we should all take pride in. Think of the first time you saw UVM. How would you feel if the college you were visiting, which was supposesdly "highly competi¬tive" - not to mention "envi¬ronmental" - was littered with garbage? It exudes pure in¬dolence. We're all smart kids here, and we should all care somewhat about the Earth if we're attending UVM.
So why is it that on Sunday morning our school looks like a landfill? Some people may look at the solo cups, beer cans and boxes scattered across campus and think, "This school knows how to party!" A common mis¬conception is that when you're drunk, you suddenly have the right to forget what you learned in grade school and see the green light to throw your crap on the ground. This is so wrong! We all enjoy hav¬ing fun on the weekends, but can't we do this without litter¬ing?
This weekend, let's all have fun while keeping our school clean. You'll be even more of the life of the party if you show that you care, because in all truth, nobody likes a litter¬bug!
Colorful, shiny, empty beer boxes littered the parking lot, and with one glance, I could count at least 50. I was in the parking lot behind Simpson, and it seemed that the boxes outnumbered the cars. I quick¬ly realized that this was no art student's project, but the proj¬ect of careless students, a cul¬mination of Friday and Satur¬day night laziness.
My stop at the parking lot was on my way back from some Sunday afternoon sled¬ding. After an hour or two of fun in the snow, my friends and I decided to head back to the dorm to warm up and start some work.
But we had to stop and stare at what appeared to be a landfill of beer parapherna¬lia. We didn't hesitate to start collecting and collapsing the empties, and soon the sled was overflowing with boxes, cans and bottles. On our way back to the dorm, with a sled filled with Pabst, Bud light and Key¬stone remnants, we received more than a few stares from students walking by.
Why? Should we be stared at for caring about our school and for picking up trash? How about giving stares at the peo¬ple who threw these boxes and cans on the ground, casually littering as if someone had de¬clared it OK.
This isn't just another la¬ment about recycling, or an¬other plea to "give a hoot and don't pollute." This is a look at how we treat our school, the University that we should all take pride in. Think of the first time you saw UVM. How would you feel if the college you were visiting, which was supposesdly "highly competi¬tive" - not to mention "envi¬ronmental" - was littered with garbage? It exudes pure in¬dolence. We're all smart kids here, and we should all care somewhat about the Earth if we're attending UVM.
So why is it that on Sunday morning our school looks like a landfill? Some people may look at the solo cups, beer cans and boxes scattered across campus and think, "This school knows how to party!" A common mis¬conception is that when you're drunk, you suddenly have the right to forget what you learned in grade school and see the green light to throw your crap on the ground. This is so wrong! We all enjoy hav¬ing fun on the weekends, but can't we do this without litter¬ing?
This weekend, let's all have fun while keeping our school clean. You'll be even more of the life of the party if you show that you care, because in all truth, nobody likes a litter¬bug!
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
stephnie piccone
Stephanie Piccone
posted 2/12/07 @ 7:36 PM EST
Way to go Emily. Litter is so past tense. Get with it UVM and clean up your act!
stevie pic
posted 2/13/07 @ 1:21 PM EST
Shocking? Surprising? Too much peer pressure to prevent this situation from happening? Or not enough guts to speak up when your so-called friends are behaving like slobs?
Emily makes excellent points. (Continued…)
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