Committed to cleaning up campus

As part of the Sustainability Weeks @ universities in BaWü, which the University of Stuttgart also took part in, the Green Office organized a clean-up on Campus Vaihingen. Together, seven students, including members of Stuvus, and staff set out to rid the university campus of trash.

Equipped with trash pickers, gloves, and trash bags, they first headed to the university pond. Most of the trash was so small that it was only visible if you really looked for it. In addition to bottle tops and plastic waste, lots of carelessly discarded cigarette ends were also found.

The impact of a cigarette end on the environment is considerable. The filters are mostly made of a plastic that takes about 15 to 400 years to decompose into microplastics, which even then are harmful to humans and the environment. In addition, cigarettes contain numerous toxins that can be washed out by rain and thus enter watercourses and groundwater. More information about this can be found on the website BUND (German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation).

The short walk from the pond to the university library took 1.5 hours to clean, as the clean-up team focused primarily on picking up small-scale trash and cigarette ends. Nevertheless, the group was satisfied with its accomplishments and had fun combining a walk with something meaningful.

But participants in the clean-up were appalled at how many cigarette ends and other trash were simply thrown carelessly on the ground, even though there are ashtrays and trash cans nearby. Their message: Instead of polluting the environment and the campus, dispose of waste, if possible separately, in the designated garbage cans and cigarette ends in ashtrays.