Students living on campus have expressed concern about the lack of recycling units available to them at their dorm halls and within the parking decks.
John M. Powell, a resident at The Lofts, feels the recycling efforts at Georgia State are not keeping up with the efforts that other universities such as Georgia Tech are making.
“I would like to see the University provide more options for accessible recycling around the campus. In doing this, the students would have to remember to put only recyclables in these bins,” Powell said.
Powell has heard complaints from many other residents when he speaks to them briefly in the elevators.
“Many students have told me that they didn’t know that we had recycling, and others that do want to recycle are saddened by the disappearance of the recycling bins at the Lofts,” Powell said. “I’ve always found it difficult to find recycling bins, especially in housing. They are usually in the parking garage, and I understand the logistics, but it would be nice to see something like the garbage shoot for recycling.”
President Julie Smith of The Sustainable Energy Tribe (S.E.T) at Georgia State knows a students who set out recycling in their dorms.
“However, when it comes time to recycle the items, the students say that they don’t feel like walking down to the designated areas and end up putting them into the trash,” Smith said.
Smith also said that the Green Team on campus is working towards greater recycling efforts, but their results depend on the recycling department rather than their personal recommendations.
“They have to have the staff to move all of these recycling bins and sort all of them out. As much as we would like to get recycling out there, I feel like we need more student involvement,” Smith said. “They [students] need to pay more attention when they recycle, they need to volunteer and also help sort and pick up the recycling.”
Smith also said she thinks Georgia State is trying to become more sustainable as a University.
“I think they are trying and recycling is a part of that. The Office of Sustainability is proof of it but I think it’s just going to take a while because it’s taken so long to get something like this,” Smith said. “We have had the recycling department for a while, but I’ve heard from someone that the facility on Edgewood is actually classified as temporary.”
Film student JR McCall, who lives at the University Commons on campus, said that he sees other students recycling from time to time.
“There are signs around the Commons and in garbage rooms to remind us to recycle but it doesn’t seem like it’s a serious issue at the Commons. The signs are just there that say ‘please recycle,'” McCall said.
McCall thinks if Georgia State wants to become a greener campus, it should put more emphasis and initiative into educating the students about the importance of recycling.
“Atlanta is the 6th in the U.S. for particle pollution and I see lots of students littering or throwing things away that could be recycled,” McCall said. “Make the students care. I know it’s easier said than done but if Georgia State doesn’t make a move, neither will the student body.”
Laurene Hamilton, Georgia State’s new recycling coordinator, said the University wants to provide statistics and figures about recycling to inform people as well as to create a foundation for comparison to see how Georgia State has improved over the years.
“One of the things that is becoming very apparent is that the record keeping is not as great as it should be,” Hamilton said. “But with what we do have, I am trying to go over it and talk to them about what they’ve done already and see how we can get this into a readable format that makes sense.”
Hamilton also said that by collecting statistics, the University will be able to mobilize recycling better.
“There is data. It is not as comprehensive but there is room to grow and I am on staff to try and make sure that happens,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton is currently working with Lawrence (Larry) Uphoff, the associate director of operations of University Housing, on a grant from Coca-Cola that would provide recycling bins for the dorms.
Dr. Carrie Packwood Freeman is part of a green faculty group at Georgia State and also teaches a journalism course, Communicating Environmental Issues.
Dr. Freeman’s research primarily focuses on analyzing the media’s representation of environmental and animal rights topics, as well as topics such as vegan advocacy.
Out of the six years Dr. Freeman has been at Georgia State, the University has always had a recycling program that seems to be more persuasive than other areas of downtown and around campus, where recycling bins are harder to find.
“Generally I think the campus recycling has been improving in terms of getting more recycling bins in some places, probably due to the Facilities department hiring a recycling coordinator position, which is definitely needed. I’m hoping that coordinator will help encourage a more visible, consistent, user-friendly, and pervasive recycling system on campus,” Dr. Freeman said. “Wherever we see a trashcan, we should see an even larger recycling bin next to it, as we should recycle more than we throw away – especially paper products, plastics, aluminum, and glass.”
Dr. Freeman believes if students are expected to recycle, the University should make it easy for them and create a culture in which recycling is expected.
Dr. Freeman suggested labeling trash bins with the phrase “Waste for Landfill. No Recyclables,” which would remind people that they aren’t just throwing items away, but rather putting it elsewhere, such as a landfill, where it will remain if it’s not biodegradable.
“As much waste as we can divert from the landfill, we should. Even more important is to reduce our use of disposables so that we don’t even create as much need for recycling or trash in the first place. In the reduce, re-use, recycle mantra, reducing and reusing should be our first priority,” Dr. Freeman said.
Patti Stilson, director of facilities building services at Georgia State, denied request for information about recycling on campus.
