I have always loved to get together with friends, relax, and play some fun games. Recently, I had a couple roommates who are really big fans of the game of beer pong. I was totally happy to hear this because I have actually been a fan of the game for a very long time. They go through hundreds of beers and beer cans per week, usually hosting at least 3 “king of the table” nights per week. The game of beer pong is very simple. All you have to do is throw a ping pong from your side of a ping-pong table into one of the cups filled with beer on the opposite side. When your opponent drains a ball into a cup on your side of the table, you have to drink the beer in that cup and remove the cup from the table. The team who makes a ball in all of their opponent’s cups first is the winner. This great game is fun and challenging, and you also go through SO MUCH beer.

Kegs can be a hassle for college students. They are difficult to transport and often a deposit is required. So nowadays people who play beer pong often get beer by the cans, in cases or 30 packs. This game requires a lot of beer drinking and it wasn’t until recently that I really considered how many aluminum can were being wasted. It’s something so obvious, but it’s also something easy to over look when having “fun” with friends in college. I’ve always recycled cans, or “tried” to, but I have to say I’ve been pretty guilty of not taking advantage of every opportunity to do so.

Therefore, I was truly impressed to see my roommate’s Chris and John striving so hard to make sure that every single can we use at our house gets recycled. To recycle hundreds of cans per week is not an easy task, and you might be surprised at the kind of effort it takes to maintain that green practice. Let alone, how many people do you know that will take responsibility to recycle on behalf of everyone else’s usage? But recycling at this volume and rate is not necessarily easy or convenient. As time goes on, a massive pile of cans can accumulate quickly. Can crunching “sessions” can be pretty fun, especially if you round up some volunteers and put on some good tunes. The thing that really inspires me about my roommates is that they just don’t stop with cans. They honestly look to recycle everything they can possibly recycle in the house. Whether it be using rechargeable batteries or recycling glass and paper, they will find the most “green” way of doing something. They do this in a community that really doesn’t offer much in terms recycling options and encouraging people to go green, or making it easy to recycle.

Chris and John are a wonderful example of the kind of attitude, effort, and perseverance it requires to really LIVE GREEN. And the best part about it is how people (like me) are really influenced and inspired by their efforts to do the right thing. The actuality is, it takes substantial efforts to be a green ambassador. It’s not a spectator sport; you can’t expect to make a difference by just “supporting” the green movement. As an example, there’s the obstacle of moving the aluminum cans to the recycling center. And are we going to turn around and drive a fuel-inefficient vehicle there? Another thing to think about is the containers we use to transport the aluminum cans. If plastic bags or grocery bags are used in the process, we need to make sure we recycle these as well or else we might be negating our eco friendly progress. Fuel Efficient Vehicles, reusable green bags and reusable stainless steel water bottles are a couple solutions that can improve our chances of truly making a positive impact.

The consistent, and deliberate action of real people like me and you is the only way the green movement will be able to sustain itself. Like all wonderful human accomplishments, on an individual or group level, it is the leaders (like Chris and John) who have the courage to actually take consistent action who motivate others to make positive changes in their lives and in the world. And with Beer Pong, which has become something of a “phenomena” among the world’s youth, think of all the cans that can be saved by good samaritans like Chris and John. Young people take notice when something becomes “the popular” thing to do, and will definitely notice when their friends are taking action. It is absolutely amazing to think about the amount of cans that we can save from being put into a landfill through recycling the cans used in beer pong!

Albert Jefferson is an experienced journalist covering environmental and reusable topics as well as giving the idea for companies to employ wholesale recycled bags to market their trademark and while supporting our world’s environment.