On September 13, 2002, Student Life penned an editorial arguing that the University should do more to extend its recycling efforts to off-campus housing. “The receptacles around campus-those that say ‘co-mingle’ or ‘mixed paper’-are visible and widely used,” it said. “Having more such bins on the way to off-campus apartments would be a wise investment for the University’s-and the environment’s-future.” Little action was ever taken, and on September 15, 2006, Student Life wrote another editorial arguing that the University’s recycling efforts would “continue to be undermined if it forgets to take simple steps to improve recycling, like placing recycling bins in off-campus apartments.” Sadly, the administration has still not done as much as it could to rectify this problem. So we must again ask that recycling bins be provided to students living in off-campus apartments such as Greenway.
Chancellor Wrighton and University officials have consistently pledged their support to making the campus greener and more energy-efficient and they have taken steps to make this happen. The Earth and Planetary Sciences is LEED certified, meaning that the building leaves a minimal impact on the environment. The University has also claimed that it will try to make future buildings, such as new residence halls on the South 40, LEED certified as well. And it now plans on hiring a sustainability officer to evaluate the University’s environmental impact and generate solutions for a more eco-friendly campus.
These plans are all well and good. They are laudably ambitious and they will perhaps one day make a big difference in reducing energy consumption on campus. But as of now, they are still just plans. What the University needs to do now is this: immediately take small, incremental steps towards environmental sustainability while the long-term plans continue to develop.
One quick and easy solution to reducing campus waste is, of course, a better recycling program. Student Life has raised concerns about the University’s recycling, particularly after the campus received another disappointing score in the annual RecycleMania competition relative to other colleges nationwide. Last year, the winner of the RecycleMania competition, Miami University, recycled 66.19 pounds of material per student. Washington University, however, was only able to raise a mere 4.39 pounds per student.
There are currently not enough recycling bins and the about 25 bins that already exist on main campus are so poorly labeled that they can easily be mistaken for garbage cans. This leads to high contamination rates in the recycling bins that are detrimental to the campus’ environmental efforts. In 2004, Student Life reported that approximately 70 percent of all material collected in recycling bins on main campus was contaminated with non-recyclable material. Once the material in a recycling bin is contaminated, it must all be thrown out in the trash.
This leads us to suggest perhaps one of the simplest solutions possible: either get new recycling bins or paint the existing ones with a distinguishing color. One coat of paint (not the usual green or brown or black) can make a world of difference for the campus and for the world.
Also of particular concern to us is the lack of a University-coordinated recycling program in off-campus apartments such as Greenway. A Student Life article reported on September 15, 2006, that the Greenway, University Drive, Loop Lofts and Rosedale apartments did not provide their residents with recycling bins. All of these apartments are owned and run by the University, so the University must step up and be responsible for the recycling efforts of the apartments. Students will make the effort to recycle as long as they are provided with the means to do so.
In a September 9, 2002 staff editorial, Student Life argued, “students need recycling options on and off campus.” We are still waiting for them today. In 2002, Student Life suggested that the University provide large recycling bins in the Brookings parking lot for people to drive-and-dump recyclable materials. This hasn’t happened.
College students, by nature, produce a lot of waste. Much of it is recyclable and recycling programs could be easily started if the University were committed to implementing them. This has been their promise and this has been their responsibility. It is now time to stop wasting words and start taking action.