The Spire

Fiona Greaney ‘29

Opinions Editor

As I made the trek from Brooks to Kimball, I passed lots of landmarks. The lampposts on Lower Easy, the peace sign on the roof of the Millard Art Center, the greenhouse, the white-stoned memorial, and Brooks Music Hall were all stops I made along my journey. I take you along this path with me and bring these locations to life in your mind because I want you to make the same startling realization that I did. See, on my walk, a tumbleweed of a plastic bag rolled past me, and fueled by an uptake in #greenweekfervor (make it catch on!), I picked up the bag and tried to find a trash can. But alas! From Brooks to Kimball, I only first found a trash can at Brooks Music Hall.

Now, maybe I missed one. But trash cans should be not only present, but visible and easy to use. Holy Cross has too few trash cans that meet this criteria. In honor of Green Week (#greenweekfervor), I have laid out my proposition.

The “trash problem” is not only a problem on the Hill—Worcester residents have complained about litter and a lack of cans for years. The city has recently rolled out a new set of “WooBins” (yes, you heard that right) that have recycling and landfill elements. The city had 50 trash cans before the initiative, and now has 150 new bins to meet the city’s trash needs. While the results have not been immediate, this is certainly a step in the right direction. What would our campus look like if Holy Cross implemented something similar to the “WooBin”? A “CrusaderBin,” if you will?

There are currently trash bins along Lower Easy. They are located next to the dorm entrances. But these are not easy enough to access. Imagine walking with a group of friends and you break quickly to drop some trash off at Hanselman. First, you would have to have prior knowledge of that bin being there, since it is covered from the courtside by a large bush. Second, you would need to run up a flight of stairs, make a left, and place your trash in the nondescript bin sitting to your left. By this point, your friends can no longer find you. This is a perfect example of a bin that is neither visible nor easy to access.

I think our campus would benefit from “CrusaderBins.” They would need to first be visible. For this, we would need to make them a fun color, and I vote purple. They also would need to be in visible, easy-to-access locations. For this, I recommend following a method akin to the “thirty-step-rule” that is employed at Disneyland. The rule is that trash cans should be placed no more than thirty steps apart. Since I hope Holy Cross students do not produce the same amount of trash on a day-to-day basis as amusement park attendees do, I think we can get away with something closer to fifty or sixty steps. The point is that they should be easy enough and attractive enough that people want to use them. 

In the meantime, there are a few things you can do to help. First, take care of your trash. Don’t make your litter someone else’s responsibility. Second, pick up safe trash when you see it. While this might seem unfathomably dirty at first, you can curb these fears by carrying around some hand sanitizer. Lastly, get involved! One way to do so would be to join the Outdoors Club at their weekly Sunday Cleanups. More information is available on MyHC. Always check out what the Office of Sustainability is up to, and watch out for more “Purple Goes Green Week” events!

Holy Cross, we need more bins, and we need them now! #greenweekfervor. Thank you.