Think recycling is a hassle? The Divi-sion of Recoverable and Disposable Resources would like you to reconsider. Its 21 determined members teach students and faculty how to deal with a potentially destructive equation: one Earth plus a virtually infinite supply of garbage.
That's a lot of trash
The University recycles paper, plastic, aluminum, cardboard, metals, glass, transparencies, batteries and electronics. With its bright blue bins located all across Grounds, the Division of Recoverable and Disposable Resources, also known as U.Va. Recycling, is equipped to dispose of nearly any waste students can produce. According to Recycling Program Superintendent Sonny Beale, whether people recycle depends on the attitudes of students and faculty.
"Fifteen percent of people will recycle all the time because they know it's the right thing to do," Beale said. "Fifteen percent will never recycle because they don't care. It's our job to convince the other 70 percent."
Third-year College student Lindsey Daniels, a U.Va. Recycling employee, said she often sees students tossing plastic bottles into trash cans when a recycling bin is usually only a few feet away.
"A lot of people think recycling is just thrown away, but that isn't true," Daniels said. "There is a lack of understanding [at the University]."
Though many students believe recycling to be expensive, it can result in substantial savings, according to Daniels.
It costs $66 dollars per ton to dispose of trash and $45 per ton to dispose of recycling after accounting for operating costs and revenue from selling recyclables, Daniels said. The University saved $275,000 during the past two years by recycling.
Recycling also spares the Earth from environmental costs. Landfills are an appealing idea: Truckloads of waste are dumped into a hole in the ground, never to be seen again. Space is limited, however, and waste will eventually resurface, Daniels said. She also cited groundwater contamination, which occurs when there is an accumulation of hazardous substances in soil, as an issue associated with landfills. Contaminated groundwater may be harmful to animals that drink and bathe in the surfaced water or eat other contaminated animals. She also gave the specific example of plastic bottles and bags polluting the Chesapeake Bay and posing another problem as they can choke and entangle the bay's inhabitants.
"If people went out to see the landfill, they wouldn't throw away 12 pounds a week of garbage," Daniels said. "They don't realize it adds up. But when you look at all your bags from a week, a month..."
Recycling is energy-efficient: According to Daniels, using recycled aluminum to make a new can requires five percent of the energy used to create a new can without using recycled aluminum, a reduction that may help reverse global climate change. Recycling also reduces resource depletion.
Raising awareness
The University recycles nearly 45 percent of its waste, well above the 25 percent mandated by the Commonwealth, and has accumulated scores of awards, including recognition from the Virginia Recycling Association. To keep the trend going, U.Va. Recycling reaches out to students from their first steps on Grounds.
During summer orientation, U.Va. Recycling members set up booths outside the Newcomb and Runk dining halls. Members handed out magnets and T-shirts and explained the importance of recycling through such creative means as displaying a mountain of aluminum cans. They also advertised at the Student Activities Fair, which Daniels credits for drawing more applicants to their conservation advocacy program. U.Va. Recycling is not yet an official part of first-year orientation; according to Daniels, representatives of the program "just show up."
"We need to become a priority," Beale said. "People need to know how to dispose of their waste. When you come as a first year, you're lost."
The conservation advocacy program is one way U.Va. Recycling educates first-year students about recycling at the University.
Since 2002, U.Va. Recycling has chosen from each first-year residence hall to serve as a representative a conservation advocate. The goal of conservation advocates, as stated by the U.Va. Recycling Web site, is to serve as a connection between students and the recycling program. These students are responsible for monitoring recycling bins in their dormitories as well as attending weekly house council meetings and biweekly meetings with U.Va. Recycling student employees.
First-year College student Dan Michaelson, Hancock House conservation advocate, said he chose to become a conservation advocate because of his passion for the environment.
"In getting people to [recycle], I'm promoting the things I love," Michaelson said. "I'm all about sustainability."
Michaelson said he hangs posters provided by U.Va. Recycling to raise awareness and also tries to forge a personal connection with students in Hancock.
"I try to write funny e-mails and keep people interested," Michaelson said. "You don't want to make people feel guilty. They've got too many other things going on and they don't want to be guilt-tripped. It all starts with a smile."
Doing your part
On Earth Day this April, U.Va. Recycling will once again host a dumpster dive to visually express the quantity of recyclables students are throwing away. All trash disposed during the previous 24 hours will be laid out on a tarp and sorted according to whether it could have been recycled. According to Beale, the last dumpster dive yielded 40 percent recyclables, a figure he said he hopes to beat this year. Earth Day will also be celebrated with a carnival and information booths.
Chuck it 4 Charity is another program hosted by U.Va. Recycling that serves both the environment and the community.
"At the end of the semester, we have a week and a half when people can give non-perishable items, clothes ... anything unwanted but reusable," Daniels said. "We give them to charities like the Thomas Jefferson Food Bank, Salvation Army and Goodwill."
Last year, 60 tons of usable items were donated to non-profit organizations around Charlottesville, according to a report released by U.Va. Recycling. For students with a surplus of belongings but little room in their suitcases, Chuck it 4 Charity is an easy and convenient way to give back to the community.
Daniels said students are welcome to visit the recycling office on Alderman Road, where a number of school supplies have been donated.
"I encourage people to take trips down here," Daniels said. "We've got binders, paper, computer speakers ... They're welcome to take anything they need."
This year, the University also is participating in Recyclemania, a 10-week recycling competition among more than 200 schools across the country. In its seventh week, the University had a recycling rate of 23.69 percent. The University has yet to rank in the top five on Recyclemania's Web site, but there are three weeks remaining in the competition.
"We have posters in O-Hill and Newcomb with updated scores," Daniels said. "In Virginia, our strongest competition is VMI [Virginia Military Institute], and they only have 2,000 people. For a large university, we're doing pretty well."
Of all UVA Recycling's projects, Beale said the most ambitious was the creation of the University Environmental Coalition, an alliance of all of the University's environmental groups.
"We hope to bring a commonality to sustainability and conservation by having all the groups act as one, rather than as 20 or 30 individual groups," Beale said.
The coalition includes members from the Environmental Education and Protection Society, Green Dining, Green Grounds, Student Environmental Action and Students for Sustainable Communities.
Still, many students remain skeptical about recycling, and they may have good reason. As Electrical and Computer Engineering Associate Dean Paxton Marshall pointed out, recycling is an expensive process.
"It saves money compared to shipping to landfills, but it is still a cost," Marshall said, adding that the collecting, sorting and processing of recyclables expends a great deal of energy.
Landfills are also a source of income for Virginia, the second-largest importer of garbage after Pennsylvania. Since former governor Mark Warner instituted a $5 per ton tax on all imported trash, the Commonwealth has collected millions of dollars a year.
Whether you share U.Va. Recycling's passion for conservation or not, its members would tell you it is easy to start making positive changes. It all starts with tossing that bottle into a recycling bin.
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