My revolutionary plan to save Southern

We have all seen it before: You pick up a Digest out of the paper bin, read it and then leave it on a desk or some obscure corner of a classroom where it sits until another picks it up, only to repeat the process.
Why?
We have explored the issue of trash on campus in quite a few issues of the Digest, though things haven’t changed. Students still throw trash inches away from the trash cans, leave their litter for grounds keeper to pick up and have no remorse or concern for the cost that occur down the line.
Though not all these costs have monetary value, many weigh heavily on our environmental responsibility.
Southern uses tons of paper every year, not to mention the other recyclable waste that the student body produces on a yearly basis like plastic bottles, cups, etc.
So what is needed to correct the problem of waste here at Southern? A recycling program. Many have been pointing the finger at the issue here, but no one has attempted to compose a plausible plan to solve the matter.
This brings me to my revolutionary plan to save Southern University.
Southern has the opportunity to start a program to take responsibility for the environmental effects of its behavior.
Using recycled paper greatly decreases the amount of resources (water, wood, energy) used to produce paper. The use of recycled paper is an important way to protect the environment and reduce energy and water consumption while creating demand for recycled paper and thus supporting efforts to cut waste levels; not just on campus but statewide.
I believe that colleges, students and the university in general have a responsibility to minimize their negative impact on the environment and that reducing, reusing and recycling waste is an important part of this responsibility.
Think briefly on the paper wasted in the computer labs on campus. That is a lot of paper huh? Now think about the number of newspapers that go unread; sitting in a closet wasting space and opportunity of potential profit. Now, finally think about the paper that gets thrown away from each file cabinet from each department, school, and college here on campus. That is a lot of paper.
However this is just the tip of the iceberg. Now multiply that by the days that classes are in session and all the waste from the party flyers, posters, cups and wrappers.
We can build another building with the amount of paper that we use here on a yearly basis.
So now my revolutionary plan to save our university.
Collecting recyclables costs money but it also saves money by reducing the volume of waste that must be disposed of. The environmental Protection Agency has funds to start programs such as this one.
In addition, the sale of recyclable materials generates revenue.
Revenue that Southern can use for expansion, renovations and even reducing tuition or the cost of books.
There is no difference in turning an assignment in on 40 percent recycled paper than one turned in on virgin paper. Yet, this simple concept has eluded us. The very thing that we write all our complains on could quite possibly be the thing that is pushing cost to the level that they currently are.
Photocopy machines are not using recycled paper at the moment, but they should be. The newspapers should be collected and recycled, but there not.
These are the things that Southern has not capitalized on. Little thing like this reduce cost that can be used elsewhere.
Everyone has heard that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Well, in our case our trash can be our treasure.
A few recycling bins for the newspapers; trash cans designated to collect just cans; special dumpsters for the paper waste from the different departments; I am sure will make a world of difference.
Decreasing the cost of books, reductions in tuition, more funds of building and reconstruction.
Think about it.
Not to mention Southern will also achieve another first; it could become the first Historical Black College or University to take environmental responsibility, adding to our already great legacy.
Usually I end with “this is not to tell you what to think, but rather what to think about,” however I won’t this time.
This is something time that Southern University needs to act on.