By Gabrielle Fitzgerald
Single stream recycling bins are now appearing alongside trash cans around campus as part of the Sustainability department’s newest attempt to reduce campus waste. The bins’ lids feature slots for every recyclable product to make recycling easier.
“It means less sorting,” said Michael Rea, Recycling and Minimization Coordinator.
By installing these bins, the department hopes students will place fewer items in the trash. Rea said the college can then sell the paper and plastic products to recycling centers.
“There’s no more looking for a certain bin to put recyclables in,” said Kim Criner, sustainability student affairs coordinator. “[I hope] that it will become as easy, if not easier, than throwing something away.”
Criner said these blue bins can be found near almost every trash can. This makes the bins easier to find and more accessible. She says she hopes that it will become part of the culture and look of campus.
Many of the students have noticed the bins which, according to student Emily Sewalson are “very green.”
“I like being able to just throw all my recycling in one container, instead of having to think about sorting it all out,” said student Rebekah Mayer.
“Having the bins by the trash cans makes them that much more accessible and easy to recycle,” student Stacey Biller said. “I’m glad [the college] is providing places for us to recycle.”
“[The bins] help us be more environmentally conscious. It’s the little things that add up,” said student Christen McAfee.
However, some students are less enthusiastic than Biller.
“I honestly haven’t even noticed them,” said student Micah Fry.
Rea has plans to not only make the bins more noticeable, but also to better explain their purpose.
“My plan is to create a more detailed sign and put it above, like on the wall,” Rea said.
The bins will cost the college about $10,000, but they believe it will be a well-made investment. Rea said the single stream bins will replace the “cans only” bins, which have been moved outside the buildings where there were previously no recycling containers.
Rea said the best thing about these bins is that the college can now capture many more recyclables, including aluminum and tin cans, paper, and plastics. The college can even recycle spiral-bound notebooks.
This is just one of the many programs that Sustainability is implementing. Rea said he hopes that someday the college can become a zero-waste campus.
“Recycling is a gateway to sustainability…by diverting those things from a landfill, using those resources again, rather than having to mine for new resources,” Criner said.
Contact Gabrielle Fitzgerald, reporting correspondent, at gfitzge1@stumail.jccc.edu.