Editor,
It was nice to see Lewis Jacob's delightful photo of the luminaria glow in Smith Plaza on the front page of Monday's Lobo. However, it was hard for me to enjoy the sight with my knowledge of what happened to these paper lanterns early the next morning. As I walked across campus on my way to Zimmerman Library, I was appalled to see the slumped over luminarias being thrown one after the other into trash bags.
There must have been a half dozen large black bags filled with luminarias, no doubt on their way to a dumpster.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't luminarias made of brown paper bags, dirt and tea candles? Would it have been too difficult to pour the small amounts of dirt on the ground, in a flowerbed or on the dirt paths that line the Duck Pond.
The Humanities Building was just a few feet away from the stuffed-full garbage bags, and it has recycling bins for student use. The remaining candles and luminarias would easily fit into one garbage bag.
I am not concerned with the students who were acting in such a wasteful manner, but with the wasteful habits of every American. Nobody needs to drastically change their lifestyle to live less wasteful lives, but everyone needs to use common sense and recycle their waste.
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Elizabeth Hart
UNM sophomore
