Walking the quad during spring graduation is one of the greatest parts of going to the University of Nevada, Reno. The university quadrangle is one of the most historic parts of our university and I can almost guarantee that every graduate has their coveted and loved graduation photo on the quad. While graduation photos are used to memorialize your time at the university, please stop blowing confetti and glitter over the gorgeous, manicured green grass.
Confetti is horrible, glitter is worse. Both Satan-made products have found their way onto “Mother Quad” because of selfish graduates that want to watch the world burn. If you’ve ever wondered why every goose at Manzanita Lake hates students, it’s probably because they spend their springs eating the disgusting confetti that people leave on the ground and have digestive problems as a result. Leaving your trash for others to pick up not only makes you lazy, but also does a disservice to the entire ecosystem of the quadrangle as a whole.
Glitter is litter. Arizona State University had so many formal complaints of glitter on their campus due to graduation photos that their director of grounds had to make a formal statement about it. Alana Levine, director of grounds and Zero Waste at ASU, said in an article to The State Press, that there are two main problems with glitter: It can be incredibly hard to clean up, and because it’s comprised of millions of tiny pieces of plastic, it can also harm the environment. “It’s essentially putting tiny, tiny non-recyclable plastic into the environment,” she said. “There’s no way to kind of gather that up and recycle it.”
Even though it’s officially roped off to let the grounds recover before graduation, every weekend people are on the quad taking their graduation photos. And every Monday on my walk to class I can see the disgusting mess that people have left with confetti blasters everywhere, and so much glitter on the pavement that it looks like Dorothy’s yellow brick road. Graduation photos are supposed to be a fun expression of their departure from the university. Most people wait at least four years to be able to take these photos.
As much money as we pour into this university, the grounds are not ours to use and abuse as we see fit. If people are going to use the university’s grounds to take their graduation photos, they should have enough respect for the environment to pick up after themselves. When people use confetti and glitter and leave it for the grounds crew to pick up, they’re disrespecting the people that work so hard to keep this university gorgeous. If you can’t pick up your trash, you don’t deserve your degree and should go back to kindergarten to learn how to clean up after yourself.
I don’t know what Pinterest photo inspired the excessive use of glitter or confetti, but the trend needs to end. Even if you think your infantesimal specks are going to look so cute in a DSLR camera shot, I promise you can live without it.
Opinions expressed in The Nevada Sagebrush are solely those of the author and do not necessarily express the views of The Sagebrush or its staff. Jacey Gonzalez is a student at the University of Nevada and studies journalism. She can be reached at jaceygonzalez@sagebrush.unr.ed and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.
