Thursday, March 28, 2024

Clean up our throwaway culture

September 7, 2014

Couches were piled on top of each other. Love seats shoved in between made a mix of leather and suede, muted colors and cross-hatched fabric. Minor holes and tears in cushions turned into full rips from heavy rains and cold weather after previous owners left the furniture outside during the harsh winter.

It’s a scene from one apartment complex that is replicated near dumpsters across East Lansing.

Last week across the street, leftovers from a late-night meal were spread out on the sidewalk — a slice of pepperoni with one hefty bite taken out of it before the eater lost interest and gave it up to the ground, along with the box. Bagels from cafeterias, and shirts and socks settle in the grass by residence halls — who knows how they get there.

Collectively, we need to clean it up.

There’s no room here for the argument of planned obsolescence, and the issue goes beyond the remnants of one crazy night out. It’s a habit of wastefulness.

Instead of letting garbage sit as an eyesore or rush into the Red Cedar River through stormwater drains, we should just get rid of it the right way.

At MSU and within the community, there are organizations searching for donations. Helping Hands and Hearts of Michigan Inc. has posted fliers in campus buildings requesting furniture for those who lost possessions after fires or floods.

It can also be tough for international students to fill a living space from scratch. With an old futon from your parents or a chair from an older brother, it’s not too hard to furnish a room in no-frills college style. But lugging hand-me-downs across oceans isn’t an economical option.

The College of Communication Arts and Sciences holds a household goods drive for international students every year before the fall semester begins. Items go to the Lending Center in Spartan Village Apartments, which aims to ease the transition to the university for students from abroad.

When you’re far past the decorating stage and ready to move out, your couch might be too hefty for you to haul, but that doesn’t mean it should go to waste. The MSU Surplus Store is another repository for things you want to get rid of, and is more respectable than the curbside or a parking lot. You can schedule a donation pickup with the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity ReStore and other charities. There’s help out there for you, folks. So think about what and how you are throwing things away.

The fact that celebratory and retaliatory couch burnings have become part of our traditions doesn’t mean furniture and other items are worthless. Don’t toss away another person’s treasure just because you’re too lazy to give it to them.

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