THE COLLEGIAN WEEKLY: Is Green the new Red?

Some conservatives seem to consider recyclers as socialist-communist-ultra-leftist weirdos

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Posted: 4/17/08

Conservative and conservation both have the same root word. So why are students who care about recycling immediately labeled as liberal wackos?

Not that political orientation should matter, really, when deciding someone's mental stability. But some in the college community look on green issues - such as recycling - with scorn.

Right now, the college doesn't recycle. It has its reasons. The process would cost a lot more than the college wants to spend, and deciding where money goes is its prerogative.

But the condescending air of superiority directed toward those who recycle must stop.

Odd, isn't it, how recycling has become so stigmatized.

Those who pursue recycling projects must be Democrats to the core, but nobody bats an eye when students take the bottles left over from a rowdy weekend binge, recycling them for a buck or two at Wal-Mart.

But the recycling issue on campus deserves more consideration.

So many here profess to be libertarian - so why on earth should we judge students who care about the environment and quietly take measures to recycle? Instead, we should encourage those on campus with enough enterprise to act on their beliefs.

For example, theater professor and lighting specialist Michael Beyer started up a recycling effort in Sage. Rubber tubs sit around the building, and often, they're full. He picks them up and recycles them on his own, and he doesn't expect the custodial staff to deliver the bins to the recycling station for him.

Likewise, students in several dorms have begun their own small-scale recycling projects. A humble box sits next to a soda machine.

All these people have remedied their complaint by taking matters (and empty water bottles) into their own hands.

Instead of mocking our peers who care about recycling, we should respect their behavior and use it to inspire our own thinking, regardless of what conclusion we draw. They've already considered the situation, formed an opinion, and acted on it. While they can't change campus policy, they can change their own habits - and they have. Some projects on campus have succeeded and some have flopped. Either way, their quiet but proactive attitude deserves our respect.

The environmental issues will no doubt grow more and more relevant, and it will likely change as free-market thinkers use environmental technology to everyone's advantage.

Meanwhile, silly hostility toward recycling and recyclers wastes only our reason.