By Christian Cullen, Staff Writer
Hello, Xavier! Let me tell you a tale. Way back in February, I read an ecological theology book called Care for Creation. It noted how the world is our home, and I began to notice just how messy our home is. Xavier’s campus was strewn with trash, at least in my eyes. So, I decided to do something about it. Every Sunday in Lent, I would walk around campus with a bucket and a trash grabber. It normally takes me about an hour and a half to walk the campus, and I genuinely enjoy it. However, I feel the need to call attention to a growing trash issue, because I cannot simply do this alone. I am going to go over each area of campus and how the trash levels have been, starting with Starbucks down to the Caf.
This stretch of road down Cleneay is normally not too bad. There have been days where there’s been a lot of trash, but it could be worse. Normally, the main types of trash are gum and straw wrappers. I do not feel a great need to discuss this area too much in this piece, because simply there is not much to cover.
The yard is up next. I had low expectations for this area, but you first-years surprised me. There is generally not that much trash here either. Same for the academic mall. Most of what I find here are straws and wrappers as well, with the occasional receipt.
We come to our first bad area: the walk from Justice to the Health United Building (HUB). If you nursing majors care for your patients as much as you do for the land on the walk to the HUB, then I am concerned. I continuously find so much trash around here. AND THERE ARE LITERALLY TRASH CANS ON THE WAY TO THE HUB! For the love of everything good and holy, use a trash can! I find so many food wrappers, grocery bags, Starbucks/fast food cups, and random papers around here. It is genuinely disheartening. The bucket is normally not too full, but then I get to this area, and it increases by twofold.
No area gets my ire as much as off-campus students. The area behind UStation is closer to being described as a pigsty rather than a parking lot. Please use the trash cans in your apartment rather than throwing it out the windows. Then there are the neighborhoods. I tried my hand on the Sunday after St. Patrick’s Day and holy moly matrimony. I made it about two-fifths down Cleneay, and my bucket had filled up twice. I get having a good time at night and such, and I do myself, but your yard is not a recycling bin for your empty cans of Natty Light. Kindly consider using a trash can.
I am writing this for two reasons: One, to hopefully encourage people to be better at caring about the environment. The world is on fire, and you’re throwing kindling on top of the flames. It seems small, but I have picked up about 60 pounds of trash. I will continue to do this, but please try to make my life a little bit easier.
I am also calling out Xavier. There should be another measure to ensure a clean campus other than a student caring enough to do so. I went home for Easter and was saddened to see that the trash had piled up while I was gone. Obviously, I was disappointed in other people who littered, but also Xavier. It showed that the trash only goes away when I pick it up. Last Sunday was especially comical, as there were a lot of tours. Xavier was busy promoting their school to prospective students to notice the trash piling up at their ankles. I do not have a quick fix for this issue, but the solution should not solely rely on someone’s goodwill to walk the campus every Sunday.
To my fellow Xavier students, be better and try to use the trash cans or recycling bins. It is really not that hard to not litter. To Xavier, figure out a way to clean up your campus. In the meantime, I’ll be out there again soon picking up trash. See you around town, Muskies.
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