NEW ORLEANS (September 26, 2019) – Dillard University has been called “the jewel of Gentilly,” and an important part of maintaining a beautiful campus is keeping it clean.

The university has provided recycling bins and trash cans around campus to combat the potential of littering and to encourage recycling. Unfortunately, students and others don’t always utilize the bins. Sometimes students tend to forget about the beauty that is Dillard and throw their trash on the ground.

On the other hand, bins are not as readily available everywhere on campus, and the available trash cans are not always emptied in a timely manner, either.

Trash cans are available along the Oaks, in front of Kearny dining hall and in front of the residential halls. But even though students often will gather in front of the Professional Schools Building after class or students will hang out in front of their apartments in The Gardens, trash cans in these locations are not to be found.

Even inside buildings, one cannot expect to consistently find a trash bin. For example, a trash can sits outside the elevator on the first floor of the PSB, but not on the second floor.

The result? Trash tends to accumulate. A simple solution? Add more trash cans to areas like in front of PSB and in the walkways in The Gardens. Then students would be more likely to dispose property of their trash.

Some may ask, “Why do we have to add more trash cans? People should just throw their trash away.” While this is true, the harsh reality is that it’s not that simple. And it’s true that even if trash cans are accessible, people still may not use them.

One of the main reasons some students don’t utilize the trash cans that are available is because they often are overflowing. It’s important that officials not only strategically place the trash cans around campus but also ensure the bins are consistently emptied.

In addition to adding more trash cans on campus, creating educational and eye-catching posters could potentially encourage students to want to throw away their trash.

By adding more trash cans on campus in heavily populated areas, by creating encouraging posters and making sure trash cans are emptied, perhaps students and others will think twice before they just throw something on the ground.

Andrew Logan
Mass Communication
Sophomore
New Orleans