Think back to the last time you recycled something on campus. Recall a time you saw someone else recycling in the ISUB, library, or any other campus building. How often can you think of examples? The answer is likely close to never.
For many students, the current program in place to offer recycling services on campus is oftentimes confusing and inconvenient. Signage may indicate what materials are allowed in what bins, but there is little information provided as to what makes something unrecyclable—whether that be food residue, an unrinsed can, or the material itself (such as certain numbered plastics).
This phenomenon results in levels of contamination so prevalent that it’s not uncommon to see recycling bins completely taken out of commission or with papers covering the openings that act as a reminder of our recycling failings.
While there is definite room to improve our current program, the truth is that UI’s recycling has improved far from what it has in years past. Today, our campus’s sustainability team utilizes single-stream recycling, where all materials are thrown into the same container and sorted later on. This method may appear to have a higher likelihood of contamination, but prior to 2020, UI was multi-stream and averaged 80-90% contamination rates.
Thus, not only was the program extremely labor intensive thanks to the requirement of multiple recycling bins of various materials all around campus, but it was also very ineffective.
According to Olivia Weibe, manager of UI’s sustainability team, using the single-stream method helped decrease contamination rates to the current 30-40%. An indisputable improvement, but still “not where we want to be,” as stated by Weibe.
It appears the biggest problem holding us back from where we want to be is education – or more accurately, the lack thereof. While it’s probably true a decent percent of the population merely doesn’t care enough to recycle, a larger percent would surely be happy to do so if they felt confident in doing it correctly.
So why aren’t there programs that encourage students to recycle? The truth is, there are, but they’re not necessarily easy to come by. Students do have the option to request recycling presentations for their clubs and living groups, but not only is that time-intensive and difficult to schedule, but a majority of students are also completely unaware of what UI offers them.
Don’t get it twisted—personal education plays a huge role in the efficacy of recycling. Beyond being students, we, as societal members, have a responsibility to ensure we’re doing our part to minimize the amount of waste ending up in landfills. Simple Google searches can go a long way in figuring out the correct and incorrect ways to recycle materials.
Yet the fact stands that we shouldn’t have to constantly be doing our own research. This is where students’ annoyance and ultimate apathy stems from: in a fast-paced society where everyone is expected to be constantly on the move, it can feel close to impossible to find the time to figure out what kind of plastic is recyclable.
This issue is a lot bigger than just UI. Frustrations are applicable to quite literally every recycling program imaginable. With the way things work in the U.S. and much of the world, plastic and waste consumption is either forced upon consumers or much easier than sustainable options. With recycling being the confusing and ineffective monstrosity it is, this leaves us with the dumpster fire that is our garbage disposal system.
While it’s great to look at the big picture and acknowledge that to truly decrease waste production we’d have to remake our society, it’s also not too crazy to expect better from a higher educational institution. If UI focused on educating students on this matter within classes, Greek life, and in campus housing, there would likely be a significant improvement in the success of recycling.
According to the sustainability team, most contamination is happening in residence halls, so why not take the time to inform students living on campus on how to correctly recycle? Why not try incentivizing it, so students are more likely to seek education themselves?
Regardless of how to go about it, teaching is the name of the game in improving this issue. If convenience can’t be achieved thanks to the poor ways our world runs, then UI should focus on improving education so students can know how they’re recycling. A little information can go a long way in doing our part to better our planet.