Recycling in Red and Black

       

       Attendance on Frat Beach: 2,000? 4,000? Various news sources focused on SEC events offer different - but uniformly large - numbers to describe the influx of college students to the modest St. Simons Island surf-side. 

Each Friday before the Georgia/Florida football game hosted in Jacksonville, University of Georgia students congregate on one of Georgia’s few barrier islands. We cause traffic jams, we aggravate waitstaff and store owners, and - most notably - we pollute the beach with a smattering of beer cans and coke bottles and forgotten, monogrammed flasks. However, frequent recycle and trash bins placed alongside the beachside bash remind us to dispose of our trash in the most environmentally friendly and community conscious manner. 

According to GreenWaste, nearly 70% of everyday waste is recyclable but only 30% is actually recycled. Furthermore, in 2004, “55 billion aluminum cans were landfilled, littered or incinerated...This is enough cans to fill the Empire State Building twenty times.” As a proud Bulldog gal, was I pleased to see a sect of my fellow student body disposing of their inhibitions and/or dignity under the disdainful eye of St. Simons locals? No. However, I was overjoyed to see trails of staggered footprints paving the way to-and-from recycle receptacles - evidence of an markedly more healthy beachside disposal. 

College students don’t always make the best decisions - concerning alcohol or otherwise. Most events surrounding the Frat Beach phenomenon of this past weekend are in strict contrast to ideals of Public Health. That being said, UGA students demonstrated dedication to bettering and protecting their Friday afternoon environment - a trend I hope coincides with their habits in Athens. Promising statistics published in mid-2011support this suggestion, indicating that UGA students and staff recycle 50% of their waste. Perhaps once we leave the curiosity of our early 20s behind, our generation will better the world by making it a greener and cleaner home for our future through devotion to recycling. 

- Macy Sirmans, Bianca Beran, Edvina Kuburas