Efforts to Increase Recycling on Campus

April 2008 issue

The other day I noticed the trash cans in the Ray Meyer locker rooms were full of empty bottles of water, the disposal of which is a growing environmental concern. What are the current efforts to increase recycling on campus? It seems a little crazy to participate in "Earth Hour" without attending to the smaller things that make a difference.

Response

Source: Bob Janis
Title: Vice President for Facility Operations
Unit/Department: Facility Operations

Response:
We continue to fine tune our recycling efforts even further. At present, we are recycling approximately 150 tons of material during an average monthly period. That is significant! Recently, we spent $50,000 to add more recycling bins on campus....covering most areas. If we missed the locker room of the Meyer Center and several other spaces, we sincerely and humbly apologize....but know this- the build up of those plastic bottles did not go to landfill. Our refuse hauler would have sorted them out of the waste stream as part of one of the number of methods that we employ around recycling. That said....I have already issued an order to add recycling bins at the Meyer Center, to include the locker rooms. The initial ones placed will be on the small side, with larger ones added as soon as they are delivered by our vendor.