The City of Moscow has begun providing recycling services for University of Idaho Greek Life chapters.
Recyclable materials can be picked up every other week for $5.05 per cart each month. Greek chapters normally need about two to three carts, so the cost would be approximately $10.10 to $15.15 per month.
Natalie Wiley, president of the Greek Sustainability Council and a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, stated in an email that having recycling available brought a sense of relief to her life and the lives of those in her house since they knew their house would produce less waste.
“Many incoming freshmen come from backgrounds where recycling is the norm, so they are already geared up to do their part,” Wiley said. “When I announced that I was able to get recycling back to our house, five girls immediately sprinted downstairs with boxes/cans they were saving to be recycled.”
Wiley stated recycling is educational for her sorority because it encourages the members to think about ways to recycle and “it’s a small daily practice that ends up having a larger impact due to the number of women who live” in KAT.
Tim Davis, the City of Moscow sanitation operation manager, said students tend to take advantage of single-stream curbside recycling because it is more attractive than hauling their items to the recycling center.
Greek chapters can contact the city to let the sanitation crew know they want to be involved.
Those new to the program get sent a list of what can and cannot be put in the recycling bins, as seen on the City of Moscow’s website.
All items put in the bins should be as clean as possible because large amounts of contaminated items build a bad reputation for Moscow Recycling and less revenue is earned from the load. Recycling contamination includes sorting items incorrectly, like putting glass bottles in bins for paper products, or not cleaning food residue off items first. The company usually earns around $120 per ton of recycled materials.
Single-stream curbside recycling, which means users of the program don’t need to sort recyclables by type, began in 2016 in Moscow. The recycled materials are collected biweekly.
Greek chapters closed during Winter Break can stop service, just like in the summer, or notify the city that they want to stop recycling for a specific period of time.
Davis said Moscow does a good job of cleaning recycled items compared to other cities around the country. He said the number of contaminated items can get up to 9% but is usually about 5% to 6%. Anything under 10% is good, but some cities can get around 20%, he said. Recycling companies won’t provide service if items are too contaminated multiple times. The company will identify the items and tell those involved in recycling what the problem is and how to fix it.
The Material Recovery Facility in Seattle, Washington sorts similar materials together, bails them and sells them to manufacturers to make the recycled items into something new.
Addie White, ASUI director of sustainability, stated in an email that Kappa Alpha Theta, Alpha Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma and Pi Beta Phi have all signed up for single-stream curbside recycling. She also stated Gamma Phi Beta was working on getting involved the last time she spoke with them. She said she is unsure whether any fraternities are involved in the program.
White stated ASUI and the Sustainability Center are sponsoring an aluminum can recycling competition for Greek chapters next semester. The teams will consist of “a fraternity or a fraternity-sorority pair” with a can-crushing barrel collecting cans to exchange for money at Moscow Recycling, she stated. The winning team will win the pooled money, which will be spent towards philanthropy.
Kim Stager can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @journalismgoals.