Students cut down on waste

As two students make their way down the hall, the clanging of
the glass bottles and soda cans alerts residents that the students
are making their weekly collection of recyclable goods.

By the time they get to the next door, the residents already
have their door open with their recycling in hand and ready for
pick-up.

Second-year physiological sciences student Katrina Woo and
second-year applied mathematics student Steve Kim are two Canyon
Point residents who have developed their own recycling program on
their floor and have been adamant about implementing it.

Peter Lu, a third-year electrical engineering student and a
Canyon Point resident assistant, said his residents were concerned
that UCLA Housing Administration would not recycle the items
students left in the recycling bins. So they took it upon
themselves to form their own recycling program.

Since Housing would not allow them to place their own container
anywhere in the lounge or near the stairs of their house, Lu
emptied out one of his closets so that the recycling his residents
collect would have a place to be stored until it can be dropped off
at the nearest recycling facility, Lu said.

At first, it would take about a month before the closet was
filled with recycling. Now, it takes about a week and a half to two
weeks, Lu said.

About every other weekend, Lu, Woo and Kim fill a car with
approximately 70 to 80 pounds of recycling and drive about 20
minutes to the closest Vons, which is located in Santa Monica.

In the parking lot there is a small recycling facility where the
three students sort their recyclables, have them weighed and then
receive payment for the items. One trip to Vons, including the
commute and the time sorting, takes about three hours every other
weekend, Woo said.

The first time they went to drop off the recycling, it took
nearly three hours to separate it all. Now that they understand how
the process works, they are much more efficient, Lu said.

Alfred Nam, associate director of rooms for Housing, said it is
not Housing’s responsibility to remove the recycling. Rather,
Nam said it is each individual floor’s responsibility to
collect recycling and then dispose of it.

“They are supposed to be taking them down every week and
using that money for individual student governments,” Nam
said.

Nam said when recycling piles up in bins with non-recyclables,
the bins’ entire contents have to be thrown away.

“Some floors are really into recycling and they manage it
well,” Nam said.

He said he thought 25 percent of on-campus housing residents
recycle, though said a lack of recycling facilities is not the
problem.

“What is lacking is the effort to have a recycling
program,” Nam said.

He said Housing is looking to work with the Office of
Residential Life and the Sustainability Committee to further
promote recycling on the Hill, starting by increasing awareness and
education.

Woo said it took a couple of weeks to inform residents about
their recycling program, but “now there’s just three or
four rooms that don’t participate.”

Every time they go to recycle, they make about $35. Last
quarter, the money was used for a house dinner around finals week,
Lu said.

Lu said it is nice to have the extra money for programming,
especially with all the budget cuts, but being more environmentally
conscious is more important. He said he has heard of other floors
trying to recycle, but said it usually does not last very long or
is not on the same scale.

He also said encouragement from neighbors can be the best way to
get residents interested in recycling.

Even though UCLA Housing Services and University Apartments
provide recycling facilities for residents, some students find that
the recycling bins located on campus are not big enough.

Regis Mesko, the facilities manager of the University Apartments
North, said Weyburn Terrace residents are “very
enthusiastic” about recycling.

But John Everett, a first-year law student, said a few small
bins located throughout Weyburn Terrace are not meeting the
recycling needs of residents.

Everett said he has raised the issue to a student supervisor but
not much has been done.

Mesko said the current recycling bins do not seem to be large
enough and that University Apartments is working with Consolidated
Waste Management to provide more recycling facilities for
residents.

The level of student participation in recycling has increased
since Weyburn Terrace first opened which explains why recycling
containers are filled much faster and why University Apartments is
seeking to expand its recycling program, Mesko said.

Though there are recycling containers located by the mailbox
areas throughout Weyburn Terrace, University Apartments is planning
on providing more facilities by the end of the quarter, Mesko
said.

Mesko met with UCLA Facilities Management Tuesday to finalize
plans on expanding their recycling program.

University Apartments is advocating recycling by distributing
information about which items can be recycled from Consolidated
Waste Management, and hopes to publish the information in the
residential newsletter as well.

But Everett said he has not seen or heard of any notification
telling residents which items can and cannot be recycled, adding
that if recycling facilities were convenient for residents, more
students would probably recycle.

Mesko said now that all the residents have been able to move
into Weyburn Terrace, University Apartments is able to analyze
current recycling programs and determine what changes need to be
made.

Providing more recycling bins throughout Weyburn Terrace will
come at no additional expense since it is already incorporated into
their partnership with Consolidated Waste Management.

“It’s amazing, the level of interest students have
in recycling,” Mesko said. “We want to do a better job
with it.”