Students recycle heaps of trash on Earth Day

St. Patrick's Day is no longer the only holiday that has Boston College students seeing green. Friday, BC celebrated Earth Day in the Dustbowl. The focus of the event was clear to all who passed by between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Event organizers sported bright green T-shirts that read "Kiss me … I recycle."

The goal of the event was to reach out to students passing through and help them learn about ways to recycle. "Our goal was to promote environmental awareness and to bring recycling and energy conservation changes on campus," said Phil Pietrangelo, a member of Ecopledge and A&S '09. Event organizers, Ecopledge, and the Environmental Action Coalition joined forces with BC Facilities to set up the most impressive display at the event, "Mount Trashmore," a 1,200-pound pile of all the trash from Upper Campus the previous night.

Throughout the day, volunteers sorted through the trash to find all the recyclables. At the end of the day, over 35 percent of the trash was recycled. The amount of trash and recyclables made quite an impact on Anne Perreault, CSON '06. "Everybody should have to look at it," she said.

Dick Range, manager of the utilities functions of BC Facilities, expressed his commitment to bring about greater recycling awareness. "We will keep [Mount Trashmore] going as an Earth Day activity until the point where there are no recyclables in the trash."

He said his goal was "to show students they are throwing away recycling opportunities."

The Earth Day celebration is Ecopledge's biggest event of the year and they hope that with attention-grabbing displays, they will encourage more members of the BC community to collaborate with recycling and conservation initiatives.

"That's why we do Mount Trashmore. We hope people will come and get involved as they walk by," said Katherine Walsh, event co-organizer and A&S '08. Not to be disappointed, several people walking by after their classes did grab a pair of gloves and jump in to sort through the trash.

There were also several tables set up with posters and information on nature and recycling. Students passing through the Dustbowl were offered suggestions to modify their behavior on campus, with suggestions to reuse water bottles and eat on plates instead of plastic containers.

Another display provided walking, biking, and T directions to nature areas throughout the Boston area. The locations were shown on satellite images and maps were also available to show students how to get to these nearby hideaways.

Within walking distance alone there are three different locations for BC students to enjoy nature, the closest being Brighton Campus. Hammond Pond is also one of the areas close enough to walk to, and event leaders encouraged students to take advantage of its proximity. Matt Karp, event co-organizer and A&S '06, said, "It's surprising so many BC students haven't been to Hammond Pond."

Frisbees sold at the event allowed students to take time to play and raise awareness during the afternoon. Many students also took advantage of the spring weather to have lunch outside while enjoying live music.

Students could savor a sampling of vegan food, as well as pick up a few vegan recipes. As part of a project for their environmental sociology class, Elise La Douceur, A&S '06, Caitlin Belomy, LSOE '06, Matthew Karp, A&S '06, and Jessica Kelly, A&S '07, prepared a few vegan dishes and provided information on the benefits to a vegan diet. Eating vegan goes a step beyond vegetarian and eliminates dairy, eggs, and other animal products out of a person's diet and lifestyle.

Aside from the cholesterol-free benefits of a vegan diet, it also boasts great ecological benefits as well. "The benefits ecologically are really strong. It takes only a few resources to harvest vegan food. One acre of land can be used to make 50,000 pounds of tomatoes, as compared to only 250 pounds of beef," said La Douceur.

Students walking through the Dustbowl also had the opportunity to participate in a clothing swap. A section was set up where students could drop off clothing they no longer wanted and pick up a few things someone else left behind. There were 15 trash bags full of clothes that were sent as donations to the charity Planet Aid.

Students who attended the event were not disappointed. "I think it is really nice to have people on campus celebrating the earth with good people, good music, and good vegan food," said Lauren Helman, A&S '06.

Event organizers were pleased with the event's end result. "It was a great, great success. I am really appreciative and I think it just went perfect," said Walsh.