By Greta Hallberg, For The Miami Student
I wrote a piece for my journalism class last semester about fraternities and their lack of environmental friendliness. My un-scientific poll involved texting guy friends and ex-hookups to find out if their fraternity house had a recycling system. I asked about their post-party cleanup at annex houses and whether or not the hundreds of Natty cans ended up in a landfill or recycled to be made into more Natty cans.
What I found is probably unsurprising to anyone who has ever attended a frat party: all of the waste produced in a night of drinking ends up in a garbage can, if it's even picked up at all. (I could go into the littering problem in Oxford but that's a whole other column - broken glass is everywhere.)
These beer cans and bottles, the handles of cheap vodka, red solo cups and two-liter soda bottles - all of the party essentials - are recyclable. I don't buy the argument that throwing things away is easier. In Oxford, we even have single-stream recycling. It is literally no different to put your waste in a red recycling bin or the brown Rumpke trashcans.
Part of the problem is that college parties are inherently messy. Sweaty bodies are packed together like sardines, thrown with too much liquor and thumping beats.
It isn't top of mind for drunk people to keep a house clean, let alone properly dispose of their waste. And honestly, most of the time, frats don't make it clear where to toss your empty cup after you chug a mixed drink.
Don't think this is an article simply blaming Greeks for not recycling. I'm sure there are plenty of independent house parties that throw away recyclable waste, too.
Greek or not, too much of the waste we produce in a night of drinking in Oxford isn't disposed of properly. In honor of Earth Day on Wednesday, I have a proposal for anyone throwing a party this weekend.
Set up plastic bins for waste at your party. Anything that people drink - cases of beer, bottles of liquor, soda - comes in a recyclable container. Make these receptacles easily accessible. If it's clear where to put your used cups or cans, hopefully people will pay attention.
If not, and it's likely that they won't, party hosts will still benefit. The cleanup will be the same, if not easier, if you're throwing bottles and cans into the same recycling bin. A bonus, especially since I know you don't have pledges anymore.
Besides the ease to you, it's better for your planet. I learned the other day that the Rumpke landfill is the highest point in Southwest Ohio. A man-made pile of trash is taller than any natural peak.
So please, give your Earth a hug and recycle your cans of Keystone this weekend - or whichever cheap beer you decide to drink.