OCU’s clean campus is being threatened by an influx of litter on the quad and inside the dorms.
Litter is frustrating and disappointing, said Franziska Harms, acting junior.
“Anyone can notice more litter around campus, both indoors and outdoors,” she said. “We live on a fairly small campus, so it can get dirty pretty quick.”
While litter can be the result of sheer negligence, some students think that a way to prevent it would be to increase the amount of recycling options.
There are 22 buildings with recycling bins on campus, according to the university website, okcu.edu. Most of them are smaller receptacles.
“I’ve seen a few recycling bins in Banning Hall and in the caf,” said Jordan Tartar, English sophomore.
“However, it would be nice if we had recycling in every building, just so we have the option.”
Because the majority of recycling bins are small paper receptacles, most bulky non-paper items are left without a place to go. Students are left with no option other than to put those items in the trash.
Onnika Hanson, acting sophomore, said this was a problem, especially after she first moved in.
“I had a lot of boxes and paper that I wanted to recycle, but I ended up having to throw it all away,” she said.
“Basically, if you want to recycle anything other than paper, it ends up going in the trash.”
Several buildings on campus have multiple recycling containers for paper, bottles or cans.
Mark Clouse, the associate director of facilities, was unable for comment Friday.
Hallie Schmidt, music theater/vocal performance freshman is working to promote compost on campus.
Being from Washington, she was raised with strong beliefs concerning the environment, she said, and she is bringing those sentiments onto campus.
“They don’t do very much composting or recycling in this area,” she said. “As a school, we do generate a lot of waste, and I think putting that into a more sustainable cycle would be a good idea.”
The issue of litter and the neglect of the recycling system is a detriment to our campus, Schmidt said.
She said she’s researching compost and its benefits and has spoken to some faculty members about the possibility of implementing some type of compost program on campus.
University officials hosted last October a “Blue Goes Green Week.” It was a week of implementing programs to help make the campus more ecologically friendly.
There has been no mention of a Blue Goes Green Week yet this academic year.
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