Students vital to success of campus recycling programs

Lo is a second-year political science and sociology student and
Castelli is a third-year chemical engineering student. Both are
members of Bruins for Recycling.

By Sofia Lo and Terry
Castelli

With 483 trash cans on our campus, it seems obvious to throw
away your garbage in them, right? Now, through UCLA’s
recycling initiatives, over half of the 4.3 pounds of consumer
waste the average American produces every day could be recycled.
Sound like another lesson on how to implement the ever-familiar
“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” slogan into a motto to live
by? Probably, but it’s not.

As essential as this concept is to us, we are not writing to
suggest drastic changes in your day-to-day activities just so a bag
can be reused, or both sides of a piece of paper written on. We are
merely asking for your participation, as a member of the UCLA
community, in the recycling program in order to enhance its
success.

Illustration by ED OYAMA/Daily Bruin Even though a substantial
increase in the number of bins for beverage containers and paper is
expected due to the recent selection of a grant proposal by the
Department of Conservation, the deficit in UCLA’s recycled
waste stream will not be ultimately resolved. Your participation is
needed in the effortless act of recycling by utilizing the
resources that are currently available.

Let’s take a look back in time. Remember two years ago
when we could only recycle newspapers because UCLA lacked both
beverage container and on campus housing recycling? The Office of
Residential Life recently established a recycling program for most
of on campus housing, and Facilities Management also has gradually
converted the “Newspapers only” recycling bins to
“Mixed paper” recycling bins.

With assistance from a previous grant from the DOC and revenue
from white paper recycling, they placed several recycling clusters
for aluminum, glass and plastic on campus grounds. Now it is your
turn to do your part and meet them half way!

While walking to class we notice you, like many other students,
picking up the Daily Bruin on your way to class. Most of you
remember the kiosk where you picked up the newspaper because you
have a morning routine.

Do you remember where you leave that paper once you have
finished reading it? To refresh your memory: maybe you leave it in
one of your classes? On the ground? Possibly throw it away in,
heaven forbid, a trash can? And that soda can or water bottle you
have just finished, where does it end up?

Day after day, we see newspapers and beverage containers
deserted in lecture halls, indifferently discarded in garbage cans,
and disrespectfully left on campus grounds. Of course, we
understand that students have hectic schedules and no time to
consider the responsibility of personal waste management.

Who really has the time to search for a recycling bin?
Unfortunately, this question leads to the misconception that UCLA
doesn’t have any recycling bins. You have probably used the
excuse that there are no recycling bins to justify throwing away
that newspaper, can or bottle. Admit it, we have all done it
before.

The truth is, however, that there are 24 recycling clusters on
campus that accommodate glass, aluminum and plastic. It’s
easier to recycle your newspaper than it is to pick one up from the
stand because the number of mixed paper recycling bins far outweigh
newspaper stands.

The next time you grab the newspaper, look for the recycling bin
adjacent to the stand and maybe you can use it on your way back
from class.

Or, if you are feeling hard-core, you can pull off the recycling
bin’s lid to get a copy from inside. You can always find a
crisp copy of which only the headlines were read before being
properly discarded.

Unfortunately, beverage container recycling is not quite as
convenient as it is for paper. There are far fewer bins on campus.
We hope, though that over the past 15 months, everyone has learned
where the clusters are located. There is probably a couple that you
pass by every day. It’s possible to carry an empty container
from where you finish the drink to a bin.

Despite the fact that the recycling clusters cost an expensive
$1,300 each, there’s still one recycling cluster in almost
every part of campus. You should have no problems spotting one on
your way to class. Facilities Management, with the initiation of a
long overdue recycling program, is devoting its efforts to
purchasing more bins with revenue earned from recycling.

Isn’t it time for us to put these bins to good use, if not
for the feel-good-about-yourself sensation that you get when you
slide your discarded waste into the bin, but for the future of
UCLA’s recycling program?

As students, we not only should feel obligated to utilize the
recycling bins offered by Facilities Management, but we should
learn to exercise recycling habits in our dorm rooms.

Glancing at trash cans in dorm rooms, we repeatedly see items
including soda cans, notebook paper, water bottles and newspapers.
The on campus housing recycling program provides two sets of
containers on each residence hall floor.

A majority of residents know where these are, yet still only a
minority utilize them. It’s baffling to us how so many
on-campus residents acknowledge the importance of recycling, yet do
nothing about it.

It’s not difficult to place another container next to the
trash can and turn it into a bin for recycling by printing out or
requesting a sign or sticker from ORL’s recycling Web
site.

By now, we hope there are a few of you out there that are
wishing you could be eco-greenhorns, aiming to go the extra mile.
Well, you are in luck.

We have just the right formula. Participate in UCLA’s
recycling programs! It is easy to do. First, start by recognizing
the recycling bins around you, and keep note of where they are for
future use.

Second, use the bins. Not only can you recycle your newspapers
and beverage containers, but feel free to pick up the mess of
another rude person. Don’t forget that the mixed-paper
recycling bins accept cardboard, colored paper and white paper,
including last quarter’s notes.

If you want to get crazy, take measures to reduce and reuse your
personal consumption, such as taking notes on scratch paper and
taking a sack lunch to campus ““ in a reusable bag, of
course.

Check out one of the many student groups that work to improve
UCLA recycling, such as Bruins for Recycling, CalPIRG, the
Environmental Coalition, or USAC’s Student Welfare
Commission. Together, we can make a large impact on where
UCLA’s waste goes.

Because our campus is a renowned institution, the waste
management practices that people follow are embarrassing. Students
need to take more responsibility for their waste and try harder to
get their 2.15 pounds of recyclable waste to the proper bins.