Your interesting story March 8 ("UBSAS talks trash in the Student Union") about the trash picked up by UB Students against Sweatshops prompts several reflections:
Yen The combination of dedication and hard work manifested by members of the group is commendable. Our campus should both congratulate them for bringing up the issue and for what they did.
Yen The men and women who clean many of our buildings are hard-working, responsible individuals. Many of them are about the same ages as readers of this paper. They struggle to make a living, very often under highly difficult conditions. What they have chosen to do doesn't really differ, does it, from delivering pizza, telemarketing, serving as a TA or carrying out similar entry-level jobs?
Yen Most of the litter can be recycled. This campus has been nationally recognized for its leadership in this area. Further, like all parts of state government, UB has a mandate to return paper, plastics and the like for reuse. That's why there are hundreds of green (bottles) and blue (paper) containers on campus. Trash belongs only in the brown bins. If all of us truly followed state regulations as well as ethical injunctions about protecting the earth and environmental responsibility, everyone would be better off. And no doubt costs would decline.
Yen Finally, essentially all plastic can be reused. Don't just concentrate on the nickel per bottle items. When you go to Wegmans, for example, you will find places where you can recycle plastics of all sorts, including non-deposit bottles.
We're all part of planet Earth. Let's join together in this spirit.
