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Letters to the Editor

Promoting recycling at Grinnell

The recycling program at Grinnell College has come a long way since its inception in the residence halls and campus-owned houses in 1991; it has also received a lot of attention in the S&B.

In November 2000, two students publicly called for more recycling containers and a general improvement of the program.

In April 2001, a subgroup of the Environmental Action Group and Mike Burt in Facilities Management wrote a letter to the campus community about the amount of contamination in campus recycling bins and its negative effects on the program.

December 2002 brought about an article regarding "greening" the campus; this included the importance of recycling correctly to reduce contamination and work for custodial staff.

Environmental coordinator Brian Turner talked with S&B staff in March 2003 about financial and energy savings gleaned from recycling as well as the ongoing contamination issue.

Today, recycling is available in most buildings on campus. This includes an area in each of the residence halls and campus-owned housing with bins for plastic, clear glass, mixed office paper, aluminum, magazines/newspaper and cardboard.

Students involved with Habitat for Humanity collect the can-cans in the residence halls and donate the money.

Dining Services does a great job of recycling their cardboard, metal cans and plastic. Most academic buildings and offices have areas for cardboard, mixed office paper, plastic and magazines/newspaper.

The program has evolved enough for the college to participate in the national RecycleMania contest for the second year in a row.

The contest has been the perfect opportunity to get accurate recycling statistics from across campus. The State of Iowa solid waste planning laws mandated a 50 percent diversion (1988 baseline) of materials in the waste stream by 2000.

Campus-wide, however, it appears that only about 20 percent of trash is currently recycled; more accurate estimates will be available in April at the end of the contest.

The key to a successful recycling program at Grinnell College is responsible recycling. Contamination is still an ongoing problem.

Trash in the bins or can-cans and mixed recycling insures that the whole bag will get thrown away.

However, some recent changes have occurred to comply with the City of Grinnell's recycling standards and to make recycling easier.

These include combining colored and white office paper in the same bin, combining magazines and newspaper, and putting brown and green glass in the redeemable bin instead of in with clear glass.

So next time you throw something away, look for a recycling bin instead ? and make sure it is the correct one!

-Jennifer Jordan, Environmental and Safety Coordinator

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