Decrease in recycling selfish, irresponsible

According to Greenwaste.com, the average person generates about 4.5 pounds of trash every day, which adds up to about 1.5 tons of solid waste per year.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 75 percent of solid waste is recyclable, but only about 30 percent of it is actually recycled.

Less than 1 percent of all plastics are recycled in the United States, and Americans throw away about 25 million plastic bottles every hour.

When recycled, each ton of paper can save 3.5 cubic yards of landfills, 17 pulp trees, 7,000 gallons of water and can eliminate 60 pounds of air pollutants.

The amount of wood and paper thrown away each year is enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years.

Let those numbers sink in. At a university where the Student Government Association’s top priority has been sustainability and where sustainability is its own major, we should be doing better than we are.

Since last year, recycling is down 32.5 percent — an unacceptable number. This falls on every affiliate with USD, including students, faculty, staff and visitors.

The disappointing fact is that while there are centers for recycling throughout campus, most of them end up filled with garbage, if anyone were to recycle at all.

While a “consistent look” of recycling containers around campus may look nice, it should not be an excuse for why recycling is not as pertinent as it should be on campus.

The impact of recycling may not necessarily be visible immediately, but being able to evaluate the lasting effects of its results is highly critical to the future.

One of the growing problems of today is that a lack of visible outcome leads to laziness. It seems if there isn’t instant gratification for doing something, it isn’t worth anyone’s time.

This is not a sustainable way to live. Today’s lazy decisions are going to have a negative impact on future generations. This is extremely selfish and downright irresponsible.

It’s time for a serious mindset change on campus — one of forward thinking and sustainability. As the flagship school of South Dakota, which calls on its students to embrace a well-rounded education, recycling shouldn’t be a hard concept to understand.

If everyone were to simply stop to think before they toss their everyday items into the wrong container, USD could be proud about what its students are doing to benefit the Earth.