Green recycling bins are now stationed in residence hall rooms, classrooms and faculty offices — and just about every other space at SUNY Fredonia — with the launch of a combined recycling program by the university’s Sustainability Committee.
An impressive total of 17 items – from plastics to newspapers to tin cans – may now be deposited into one single recycling bin.
Gone are the days when there were blue-colored bins for just paper in residence halls and offices, and students and faculty were asked to cart other recyclables to central collection sites.
The old system achieved only limited success because consumers were responsible for separating their recyclables and taking them to another location, explained Mark Delcamp, assistant director of Custodial Services.
But these all-in-one bins eliminate that obstacle, so there’s no reason why more people shouldn’t be recycling.
“We’re really trying to do everything we can to make sure that recycling on this campus is as easy and convenient as possible,” Delcamp added.
More than 2,500 green containers were placed throughout the campus in late 2008. Residence hall student rooms were retrofitted this past summer with 1,500 bins, and Mason Hall, the last academic building on the list, received their bins in early January.
Five students, all members of the local Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter, are assisting the Sustainability Committee by adopting the green recycling bin program for a class project in an upper-level Business Administration course. Their charge is to distribute 1,000 bins to all faculty and staff offices, classrooms and meeting rooms, and educate the campus community about how to use them.
“We are making sure everyone on campus has recycling bins and is aware of the new procedures,” explained Nicole Sonn, a senior from Bemus Point, N.Y. The combined recycling effort is beneficial to both the university and the environment, she said.
Assisting her with the project are Paul Reale of Jamestown, N.Y., Bryan Morse of Beacon, N.Y., Michael Cooley of Portville, N.Y., and Jacob Malthaner of Lake View, N.Y. T
he campus response has been very positive. “I think they’re happy that everything can be recycled together,” Sonn added.
The long list of recyclables includes: plastics (no. 1-7), glass bottles and jars, aluminum and tin cans, aluminum foil and pie plates, gift wrapping paper, office paper, newspapers, clean paper towels (even if they are wet), envelopes, file folders, telephone books, magazines, paperback books, hardcover books with covers removed, flattened box board, clean cardboard and moving/shipping boxes.
Currently, all existing campus recycling centers are being updated with new labels to reflect the new combined program, while new dumpsters have been placed around campus to accommodate the anticipated increase in volume of recycled materials.
Students, faculty and staff may use either the new green bins or the existing blue ones for all their recycling. The new bins, labels and dumpsters are green in color to help everyone become familiar with the campus-wide Go Green program.
Westfield Disposal collects and then compresses recyclables before shipping them to Geneva, N.Y., for automated separation and distribution.
