Observations and Impressions for the Commentary

As I walked around campus for these past few weeks, I have noticed that the students and faculty here are really getting involved in the “go green” effort. I have seen as many if not more recycling bins as trash cans. I have also seen UCF recycles signs, and have even seen a mobile recycling truck at the tailgating event before a football game. I have also seen many, as well as myself, wearing shirts that show people want to take better care of the planet (such as earth and recycling shirts). It looks and feels good knowing that at least some people care about the planet. This reminds me of how after 9/11 everyone wore shirts displaying their patriotism. There was also an increase the amount of American flags I saw. Now the environmental issues are the problem, and a lot of people are doing what they can to help prevent some of those issues. This is unlike anything I have ever experienced because as I was growing up the people around me were not really aware or cared about the status of the environment. Now, it is the phenomenon that people are worried about and almost everybody is aware of it. As mentioned, I have seen a lot of support for the protection of the environment such as people recycling and people wearing shirts that show they support the cause. However, many simply do not care or have better things to worry about as they litter in the sidewalks on campus and throw their plastics and paper with the rest of their trash. They are just simply unaware of the state of our environment or they just do not care. There are differences between my response and others. For example, I never leave trash on the ground and I utilize the recycling bins that UCF offers, where as a lot of my friends will just litter on the ground and throw away their recyclable materials with the rest of their garbage. This phenomenon is significant to me because I like to see that people are caring and putting forth an effort to help the environment. Though it is significant in the same way to many, others just do not care or even notice this phenomenon at all.