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What's the Buzz on Sonoma's Recycling Program
Sonoma State faculty, staff and students have historically been strong partners in the recycling of paper, cups, bottles and other items. But a recent interesting experiment by Facilities Services found there is some room for improvement and they have made an change in the recycling stream to make it easier for users to be an even larger part of SSU’s efforts. The experiment involved pulling three trash dumpsters into the Corporation Yard for a review of their contents. One dumpster came from Stevenson, one from Salazar, and one from Schulz. Once sorted between actual trash and items that could be recycled, they ended up with 2 ½ dumpsters of recyclables and only a ½ dumpster of trash.
To illustrate the importance of this: garbage COSTS the University $50/ton to dump and it adds tremendously to the landfill (we dump more than 652 tons per year). In contrast the University RECEIVES $20 a ton for recycling. Last year, SSU’s garbage costs exceeded $32,000 and we received $ 4,000 for recycling.
Facilities would like to turn those numbers around so we have joined the practice of some communities that use “single-stream” recycling bins, meaning that all recyclables can be put into the same container. No sorting is needed.
SSU’s current culture involves recycling cups, bottles, office and newspaper. Facilities Services is now able to accommodate many more types of recycling including plastic tableware, styrofoam (as long as it has a triangle recycle symbol on the bottom), CDs, magazines, Post-It Notes, and plastic bags and many other items.
Facilities Services suggests a personal experiment: look into your trash bin and pull out all recyclables. Put them into whatever recycle container nearest you. You will probably find very few things (such as banana peels and coffee grounds) left over.
To kick off the single-stream system, Facilities Services will be initiating a trial program in Salazar Hall which will include distribution of new recycle bins and very small trash containers. Facilities Services would appreciate your comments and your commitment to this new system.
slk, 8/25/05