Environmental center hopes to expand campus recycling

Students carried backpacks full of old batteries, plastic bottles and tin cans to recycle on the West Mall for an early celebration of America Recycles Day. The holiday takes place nationally Nov. 15.

Student Government’s Campus Environmental Center held the event Wednesday to encourage on-campus recycling. The group set up recycling bins for electronic waste, tin, batteries, old cell phones, glass and plastics three to seven. All plastic is distinguished by a symbol code ranked from a single digit between one and seven that helps recyclers do their jobs efficiently. The easiest plastics to recycle include soda and water bottles and are given a standard number one.

Every student who brought five or more items had the opportunity to swap for a reusable, aluminum water bottle. By noon, the center had swapped out more than 50 water bottles.

The center hopes to teach students how to reduce waste and create a more sustainable world by recycling, said Emily Logan, a member of the center’s Recycling Task Force. The Environmental Protection Agency defines sustainability as the condition of humans and nature existing in productive harmony where humans can meet their present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

“People live mostly on the basis of convenience,” Logan said. “If the [recycling bins] aren’t there, they won’t do it. That’s why we try to put out as many blue bins as possible, to eliminate the inconvenience.”

Students who recycle should also learn the proper way to recycle, Logan said. Some mistakes people make include forgetting to remove bottle caps before recycling the bottle, not rinsing out bottles, attempting to recycle paper goods contaminated by food and not differentiating between the types of plastic, she said.

Although off-campus recycling locations take all kinds of plastics, on-campus sites only take plastics one and two, Logan said.

Nicole Walter, an architecture graduate student and regular recycler, said she has seen students dumping recyclable goods in the recycling bins all together, regardless of whether each item belonged in that particular bin.

The environmental center takes care of most plastic and aluminum can recycling, UT Facility Services collects recycled paper and the Division of Housing and Food Services directs recycling in dormitories and dining halls.

Kelly Turner, an intern for the sustainability section of the Division of Housing and Food Services, said the group is working on starting an Eco-2-Go program. The program will allow students to buy reusable food containers, which they can bring to UT dining areas.

The students would be able to get their containers washed by the University, as well.

Last year, the University recycled two-and-a-half million pounds of paper and cardboard, which saved more than 21,000 trees, said Jeff Basile, the manager of recycling and sustainability at UT Facility Services.

Basile said UT Facility Services is also working on bringing a solar compactor called “Big Belly” to campus in the near future. As people throw trash away in a “Big Belly,” the trash fills up until it crosses an infrared beam. Once the trash crosses that line, “Big Belly” compacts the trash. This way, trash services can make less trips to the trash can and trash cans do not overflow as quickly.

Facility services is also working on widening the scope of the recycling program and providing ways for students to recycle other materials such as glass, Basile said.

Basile said students who do not recycle do not always know about recycling opportunities.

They can see what the University offers by opening their eyes and looking for recycling bins on campus or by visiting the Campus Education Center Web site for more information, he said.

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