There is a huge party Saturday night; everyone who is anyone will be there. The expected head count is large and the number of available drinks is even larger, but at the end of the event, long after the last of the fun-loving party-goers have stumbled home, what happens to the mess left in their wake? What will happen to the red plastic cups that cover the counters, the empty plastic soda bottles on the floor and the beer cans that litter the apartment the next morning?
For some concerned community members, the first response is to recycle the materials.
But for many University students living off-Grounds, access to recycling facilities can prove problematic. With fewer recycling options available, materials that could otherwise be recycled are thrown away.
"[It's] ridiculous," second-year College student Nicky Mitchell said. "I'm paying a ton of money for the apartment in the first place. I was expecting a recycling service to be available, but when I got here, there wasn't [one]."
In comparison, students living on Grounds tend to have greater access to recycling facilities. Several new environmentally-minded projects the University recently implemented have helped to make recycling more accessible to students across campus. Locating used-beverage containers near trash receptacles in libraries and school buildings, and providing paper recycling facilities and two-sort recycling containers for students in dormitories, can be particularly helpful.
"It's a positive environmental practice for the University to give recycling containers to first-year residents," first-year College student Katherine Crowley said.
Student Council's Environmental Sustainability Committee has allocated a task force to address the question of off-Grounds recycling. Committee members currently are in the process of setting up meetings with off-Grounds realty companies to discuss the issue, Committee Co-chair Michelle Henry said.
She noted that financial concerns have been key factors in determining whether recycling facilities can be made available at off-Grounds residences. Because most of the local recycling facilities are funded and maintained by the City of Charlottesville, providing additional resources often falls to private realty owners, Henry said.
"[Recycling services] can only be expanded by realtors paying for the service, meaning either a higher rent or loss of profit," Henry said.
Students in off-Grounds housing can play a vital role in convincing realtors to provide recycling services, though, she added. "Realtors need to have a reason to start the programs," Henry said, particularly because there is often a nominal cost involved.
Presently, the GrandMarc is the only off-Grounds residency complex in the area that has worked with the Environmental Sustainability Committee and agreed to provide recycling facilities for its residents. GrandMarc's program began in spring of last year, Henry noted.
"[The GrandMarc] just wanted to be a community that tries to better the environment," GrandMarc Community Manager Frances Thompson said.
After many of the GrandMarc's residents requested recycling facilities, the GrandMarc staff managers decided to work with the Environmental Sustainability Committee to implement a recycling program, Thompson explained. The recycling program does come with a price tag, however, as the GrandMarc had to remap its budget to include funding for the new recycling program.
Now, GrandMarc offers four recycling locations around the property, and the complex tries to advertise the recycling program to residents via signs and newsletters, Thompson added. So far, the program has been a success; Thompson reported that the recycling options were well-received and that available bins are "packed" every pick-up day.
Will other off-Grounds properties follow GrandMarc's suit? Henry said the Environmental Sustainability Committee is working to convince more realtors in the surrounding community to implement localized recycling facilities.
In the meantime, students living off-Grounds can always head to the McIntire Road Recycling Center near downtown Charlottesville, Mitchell noted.
"It's really convenient to bring your recycling down there," she said, adding that she goes to the recycling center every other week to drop off her recyclable materials. "It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be"
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