Halloween mayhem
Anyone who has ever seen a movie or TV show about college knows that on Halloween weekend students go out in full force to party. Whether some students wish to express their creativity through intricate homemade costumes or other feel the need for thousands of other students to see their underwear, dressing up to go out is a must.
This weekend I saw costumes of all kinds as well as ridiculous amounts of waste and mess. Candy wrappers litter the classrooms from professors or students handing out candy in class, various pieces of costumes are strewn across campus, and the surroundings streets are filled with empty bottles, red cups, and other littler.
Not only did more students than normal go to parties, they wasted more resources and left them in various places in the neighborhood. The parties spanning Thursday through Monday have left the surrounding area in complete disarray. The carelessness that many college students exude towards waste and littering really frustrates me. It baffles me that students are not bothered by the amount of red cups on the streets around campus. Is it really that difficult to recycle them after you are finished with them, or clean them up the day after the party if you went out or hosted people?
It disappoints me that students waste so many resources year round, not just during Halloween. It makes me wonder why they are so careless — is it because they aren’t paying for the cups, they don’t have to pick them up, they didn’t buy their costume, they don’t pay for the trash, everyone else is doing the same thing, or a mix of these things? Without understanding why students act like this we will never be able to change their behaviors. I guess it’s time for someone to go out on Wednesday and Friday nights and start questioning the students wandering the streets.
If you do go out, please reuse and recycle your red cups. You can even bring your own reusable cup from home. Encourage your friends and fellow partiers to do the same.
