OPP: Doin' the butts

Office of Physical Plant laments cigarette butts and other litter that pervades campus.

Hundreds of cigarette butts are strewn on the ground at the east end of Willard Building, yet there are only two butts in two urns located at the building.

Cigarette butts are the most common form of trash found downtown and on campus, said A.E. Matyasovsky, foreman for preventative maintenance and solid waste management for OPP.

"They're concentrated at the entryways of buildings or where people are gathering," he said.

Although Rachael Voss (senior-advertising) usually places her cigarettes in the metal containers, she said some people do not.

Pointing to the corner outside Deike Building where a pile of butts had accumulated, Voss said: "Too many people standing around just don't care."

However, Voss admitted if there is no can around, she will throw her butt on the ground as well.

Most smokers, such as Asif Hussain (freshman-division of undergraduate studies), said putting more urns at entryways to buildings will solve the problem. If there is no other place to put cigarettes, then they end up on the ground, Hussain said.

To solve the cigarette butt problem and other trash problems, OPP needs the cooperation of students, Matyasovsky said.

"If we could just get the cooperation to put it in a container, that would go a long, long way to solving the problem," said Paul Ruskin, communications coordinator for OPP. "If littering is a socially unacceptable activity then the problem will go away."

One example of a society redefining acceptable etiquette is the disappearance of spittoons on campus, Ruskin said.

Spittoons used to be as common as garbage cans 50 years ago at the University, he said. Since that time, society has changed. Ruskin suggested that in 20 years not as many individuals may smoke anymore, and then there will no longer be a cigarette litter problem.

Although littering is a problem OPP can control to a certain extent, money and time could be saved if students would make a conscious effort to refrain from throwing their trash on lawn areas.

"As far as things that are noticeable," Matyasovsky said, "when there are activities on our malls, people might bring a picnic lunch . . . I see that sometimes being left behind."

But the butts and trash are not confined to the University side of College Avenue. The borough also has a problem with the smoldering ends lying on the sidewalks.

Trash does not only caper around in the alleyways, its presence is also evident on Beaver and College Avenues, said Mark Henry, officer for the Borough Health Office.

Trash and other unwanted items that lie in the streets are swept away by the Public Works Department.

Residential areas in the borough are swept every three weeks, while the downtown streets are cleaned every night, said Mark Whitfield, operations manager for Public Works for the borough.

"We basically get everything between the gutter lines that lies in the street itself," Whitfield said.

Of course, when there are events held at the University, more trash will accumulate downtown, Henry said.

"I think there are times when you walk downtown and you'll see a lot of paper and cigarette butts in the streets," he said.

There are no fines for littering, nor any signs which discourage littering in the downtown area, Henry said.

One reason so many smokers toss their butts is because they do not realize they are littering, said Heather Krueger (senior-journalism).

"It's because people think it's biodegradable," she said, adding that maybe some smokers think the birds will dispose of their butts for them.

An alternative, Krueger said, is to save the butts.

"If there's not a trash can around," she said, "I just put it out and put it in my pocket."