A deep thud resonates as a student casually tosses an emptyplastic Coke bottle into a trashcan without breaking stride.Continuing down the hall, he loudly greets his friends and does notthink twice about the trash he has left behind.
For most SMU students, trash is the last thing on their minds.It is insignificant compared to the many pressures of college.
According to an on-campus survey, 73 percent of SMU students donot recycle. Students cited the lack of information on campusrecycling and its environmental benefits is only part of theproblem that leads to the disposal of recyclable products. In thesurvey, students frequently admitted they never realized SMUprovided recycling services. Some students complained thatrecycling bins on campus are poorly located and inconvenient.
“It’s hard enough to find a trash can on campus, letalone a recycling bin,” sophomore Whitney Stites said.
Once found, the recycling bins may be too specific to put muchof anything in them. In several locations on campus, such as nearthe soda machines in the Hughes-Trigg Student Center, there arebins for plastic that only allow 20-ounce bottles. This forcespeople who would otherwise recycle their plastic to throw it awayif it does not fit the requirements.
Currently, about 20 percent of on-campus waste is recycled, saidRobert Taylor with Campus Planning and Plant Operations. Includedin this 20 percent are white paper, aluminum cans, plastic bottlesand cardboard.
The Senate Environmental Committee is presently in the processof promoting new recycling opportunities and increasing awareness.LaCretia Dickerson, the committee chairwoman, said, “We aregoing to try to better label the containers and move the binsaround to get a better yield. We want a recycling bin by everytrashcan.”
With bins at every trashcan, students would no longer have tosearch for them. The bins would serve as a reminder to recyclerather than throw everything away.
But increasing the number of recycling bins may not be theanswer.
“The more bins we have, the more contamination [of thebins]. About three-fourths of the red bins are contaminated withtrash,” Taylor said.
When contaminated bins are turned in to the recycling centers,they must be sorted through. As a result, there is no income fromthose recyclables.
SMU is in the process of updating it’s recycling programby switching to single-stream recycling, Taylor said. This programwill allow the campus to provide recycling and collection for itemssuch as newspapers, tin cans and colored paper in a single locationinstead of in separate bins.
Other universities, such as Rice and the University ofCalifornia at Berkley, implement various programs that educate andinvolve students in recycling. In addition to providing recyclingbins, both universities have a reusable mug program in whichstudents can buy reusable 20-ounce mugs for around $4, after whichthey receive discounts on coffee and fountain drinks at campuslocations. Not only does this program help save money, but it alsocuts down on the use of disposable paper, plastic and Styrofoamcups.
