For 38 years, the United States has chosen April 22 to celebrate Earth Day. While most holidays are about relaxation and celebration, Earth Day is about standing up and working toward a cleaner environment. And it’s very apparent that we can do better.

Every weekend, the streets of Champaign are littered with the remnants of parties. On Green Street, gum wrappers, pizza boxes and Styrofoam containers decay beneath our feet as the garbage cans overflow.

In Campustown, you can barely walk a block without seeing glass bottles, beer cartons or red cups strewn amongst the bushes. It’s disgusting, dangerous and a bad eyesore for anyone who visits campus. Even though we’ve already stated that it’s nigh impossible for college students to stop drinking, a more realistic goal might be to get people to clean up after themselves. But the surrounding community and the University need to help.

On Monday, Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn praised Urbana’s efforts to make itself a “green” community. Years ago, Urbana was a charter member of Tree City USA, an outgrowth of the Arbor Day Foundation. While Champaign is a member as well, its work toward improving the environment are in Urbana’s leafy shadow.

Champaign suffers from a severely underdeveloped recycling program. Unlike Urbana, which picks up recyclables, Campustown residents have to travel all the way across town to the business district in order to recycle. While 24/7 availability is a plus, it’s still a huge hassle for students to load materials and drag them over. And of course, students who don’t have cars are even less likely to bother.

The University and the city of Champaign need to work together to establish a system around campus that makes it easier to recycle than it is to just throw things away.

Something as simple as placing designated recycling containers outside buildings, next to the dumpsters would be a start. Eventually, it would be nice for Champaign to follow Urbana’s lead in curbside service.

True, new buildings being built by the University and in Champaign are much greener than what they replaced, but part of Earth Day is emphasizing what individuals can do to help. New buildings are progress for tomorrow, but we shouldn’t merely be content to neglect a problem that could be solved easily today.

You don’t have to sing a song, plant a tree or buy a hybrid to honor Earth Day. But the next time you think about dropping that beer bottle you just downed, find a trash can, or better yet, a recycle bin.