I don't have many memories of when I was young, but I can remember Ronald McDonald leaping across our pine gym floor screaming, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!" when I was in elementary school.
I'm glad that is a motto I still hold on to. What seems like just a memory is something I live by now.
When I came to Muncie, I had more support than ever in pursuing a lifestyle I hadn't when I was living in Elkhart.
Growing up in the country with no trash service, I never recycled. It wasn't until I moved to Muncie that I realized how this community encourages recycling with the many services available throughout the city and on campus.
As part of President Jo Ann Gora's commitment to sustainability, Ball State has adopted one of the best campus-wide recycling systems in Indiana. In every building on campus, there are metal, green bins where people can throw their empty water bottles rather than tossing them in the trash. Most of the time, the trash and recycling receptacles are next to each other, making it your choice.
And rather than buying water bottles, you can buy one of Ball State's refillable bottles and eliminate one of the most harmful trash items in our landfills.
Ball State has done its part to be sustainable. Have you?
If you live off campus, Muncie offers the blue bag program to anyone willing to recycle.
It's simple. Go to Marsh Supermarket to pick up your free blue bags with a coupon you receive in the mail. The blue bags are picked up by trash collection services around the city. It's that easy.
For those of you who have yet to begin recycling, I pose a challenge. Next time you make a trip to the grocery store, grab some blue bags and start putting your plastics and cans in them. If you're in the Atrium, chuck the recyclables into the green containers. It may be a few more steps than you expected, but our city and campus make it easy to get into the habit. Once you take advantage of the easy services offered, it will become a lifestyle, one we all need to adopt to save the world.
Since the extra effort to recycle is so minimal, why is this still an issue? Why don't more people recycle?
If you don't recycle and take my challenge, I would like you to e-mail me at jmgoldsborou@bsu.edu to let me know how the new habit works for you. If you choose not to take my challenge, e-mail me to tell me why you choose not to participate.
Now you know what services are available to you, so everything is weighing on your shoulders.
Whether you take the challenge or not, I will leave you with a quote I still remember from 10 years ago that a strange, red-haired, white-faced, burger-slinging clown said to me, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!"
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