It felt like this St. Patrick’s Day motto was “Today is a marathon, not a race”, which translates in my mind to: “don’t black out before 10 a.m”.
Pacing slowly to avoid having to recollect what happened the day prior over CDR brunch, I was one of may students who made their way through countless amounts of Natty Light cans and green solo cups throughout the day. But the real question is, where did all of the empty cans and cups go?
With all of the parties and moving from house to house, it can be easy to get wrapped up in the moment and just leave an empty cup or can on someone’s lawn or on the floor at a party. And with that being said, it’s important to remember that if you want to participate in St. Patrick’s Day, you need to be responsible in what you do — that includes throwing away your trash. Because at the end of the day (or the morning after), who picks it all up? Where does all of the trash go? All I know is, it’s not a Leprechaun.
After a bit of research, I discovered that a few groups on campus gathered to pick-up trash the morning after, such as Operation K and the Betas of Beta Theta Pi (it is also rumored that townies collect cans for money, but I don’t know if this is true or not).
The responsibility for a clean campus has been put on individual groups, when in reality, it should be put on everyone. Keeping campus clean takes effort, and after big-party-holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, it is crucial that every student put effort into taking care of the environment, even if it’s just one empty Natty Light can at a time.
Many college campuses prepare for St. Patrick’s Day by providing locations to dispose trash, such as cardboard trash cans around town, but Wittenberg seemed to lack these. Sending out an email to remind students that taking care of our campus is a collective responsibility, was a preemptive action to prevent anything too crazy from happening on campus, but the lack of trash cans and solution to trash disposal seemed to show the lack of compassion for the environment.
The groups who organize trash clean-up should not have to do what they do. Students should have easy access to trash cans and effective places to dispose of trash during St. Patrick’s Day in order to assure the cleanliness of our campus, and to not place the responsibility on individual groups on campus. So for next year, or as Wittfest approaches, remember to pick-up your own trash, so that everyone else doesn’t have to.
