Recently I have become more conscious about what is thrown away and what is recycled in my life. The overwhelming trend that I have been observing is that recyclables are constantly thrown in the trash. At this weekend’s ski race the trashcan in the corner of the race lodge was piled high with paper and plastic plates, cups and plastic bottles. Just in the exposed part towering out of the can I counted six plastic water bottles and one more on the floor. Along with the bottles there were countless other recyclables carelessly thrown away. Ironically the plastic bag on the top of the heap has the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle slogan printed on it. It goes to show that the there is an effort to recycle, but it is ultimately up to us.

The race was all college students, and since colleges around the country are raising awareness on the recycling front, I expected better from them.Even with our awareness effort at HWS things could be much better. This picture is from my floor in Emerson and shows a few tied up trash bags ready to be taken away. I couldn’t help but notice the contents of the bags, which was primarily cardboard boxes and plastic bottles. Again, I really think we can do better if everyone makes even the slightest effort to recycle.