“The Red Cup Project” is an interesting and effective way to get students thinking about the harmful waste of partying. The installation should serve as an example that showing — not telling — a problem will garner more interest on campus.

Last weekend, an installation of red Solo cups appeared on the corner of Ackerman and Euclid avenues. It was one of three installations that appeared on campus within the past week, made of over 2,000 used red Solo cups. The four students behind the project built it to raise awareness about how much waste parties at SU produce, considering that red Solo cups are not recyclable at the local Syracuse recycling center.

Presenting the problem visually contributed to the project’s effectiveness. With all the causes on SU’s campus, this stands out by actually showing the littered cups and the waste the campus party culture produces.

The project conveys a message without preaching to students. If students had stood on the corner of Ackerman and Euclid or the Quad and tried handing out fliers, the project would have blended in with the many other causes promoted on campus. By choosing to place the installation in areas that students pass every day, the project forced them to face the problem instead ignore it, as they could with a flier. Though an art installation is not the best route for every cause, student-led awareness campaigns should think of innovative ways to reach the student body.

Despite its strengths, “The Red Cup Project” needs to ensure that the point of the project is clear as soon as students see it. As the group hopes for variations of this project to reach other college campuses, it should include a staked poster or sign in the future to make the purpose of the setups evident. An installation, even if it’s visually interesting, loses its power if it’s unclear why it’s there.

It can be difficult for students to make their classmates care about a problem. And while this might not stop all students from littering their red Solo cups, “The Red Cup Project” got them thinking about the issue.