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Recycling state of emergency
By Erik Morrison
Whalesong Editor
What is going
on with the recycling here at UAS? This issue has reached absurd,
disgraceful, and humiliating lows and the situation needs to be
immediately reassessed. To me there is no greater display of a lack
of self-respect than doing something that you know is wrong, you
admit is wrong, but take no actions to see that the responsible
thing is done.
Trying to get anyone in Alaska to take the recycling
issue seriously is like pulling teeth. The recycling program at
UAS, in Juneau, Alaska, USA, and the world is nowhere near adequate,
yet universally everyone knows the importance of recycling. So why
have I been told for the last 15 years consistently that recycling
is not only important but necessary, but our leaders have yet to
really stand up and take the initiative to see that the right thing
is done, no matter the price tag that goes along with it. The common
myth here in Alaska is that it’s too expensive to recycle.
I say that in the long run it’s too expensive not to recycle.
The attitude and the message that is being conveyed
to me by many of our leaders is that because Alaska is not as overpopulated,
crowded, and basically trashed as everywhere else, that until we
start having to deal with the environmental and social problems
of a place like L.A., we have nothing to worry or complain about.
I feel exactly opposite, that we should deal with and consider keeping
this place from ever having to deal with the perils of the concrete
jungles. I really do wonder if people are just naïve, or if
greed is really worth sacrificing the future integrity of this region
and our world.
Admit it, our planet is being trashed because we are
too apathetic to care about all this frivolous waste that we use
which no doubt is having a negative effect on our quality of life,
and our great-great-grandchildren’s quality of life. Admit
it, recycling is the right thing to do, and everyone knows it. Then
why is it that people knowingly throw away their recyclable material
when it does everything bad and has no advantages. In my opinion
it should be illegal and punishable by fine to throw away recyclable
material, I mean why shouldn’t it be?
I could complain for a million years and it is possible
no one would listen until we are up to our ears in garbage. Unless
I offer some basic and realistic suggestions of how to take responsibility
for our actions, I have wasted my time offering this opinion.
I think that every recyclable bottle of juice or soda
that is sold on campus, which has a nice chilled, comfortable, aesthetically
pleasing spot in a display case, should also have a spot reserved
for it in a recycling bin. Is that too much to ask for? Why is it
that we have a whole wall of the cafeteria jam packed with recyclable
bottles and cans in display cases, and another set of cases in Spike’s
Café, yet we only have one small recycling bin on the main
part of campus? Is it too much to ask for a spot in a recycling
container for each recyclable container sold by the university?
Wouldn’t the university be doing the right thing by doing that?
I think that the lack of commitment shown by our school leaders,
state leaders, national leaders, and world leaders on the issue
of recycling has set a bad example, which has conveyed the belief
that apathy is acceptable, when in reality it is not. Please take
responsibility for your actions and have a little self-respect by
doing what you know is right. Recycle, please!
Email Erik Morrison at jserm2@uas.alaska.edu
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