In response to the environmental concern of today's society several departments and organizations at Boston College are working to make recycling a part of on-campus culture. Recycling resources are being added to residence halls, dining halls and athletic facilities to encourage students to reduce, reuse, and recycle every day.
BC Facilities is working closely with the student-run organization Ecopledge to make recycling accessible to every student on campus. Within the next month, individual recycling toters will be placed in each residence hall rooms on Upper Campus and Newton Campus. These toters are made of maroon plastic and will have handles so they can hang on a doorknob.
The hope is that students will fill their toter with empty cans, bottles, and paper, and then take it down the hallway or to a lounge to distribute their recyclables into the larger toters. "A lot of the reason why students don't recycle is because they don't have a place to put recyclables. These toters will lead to more recycling which means less waste," said Katie Cava, A&S '08.
Another improvement in the residence halls is the addition of toters for paper recycling. Many residence halls only have commingled recycling for bottles and cans. In the next few weeks, paper bins will be added in the hallways on Upper Campus and the lounges on Newton Campus. "We think that by having the containers closer and more available, people will recycle paper. It works with bottles, we expect that it will work with paper," said Richard Range, the manager of housekeeping utility functions.
Dining Services is also helping in the fight to conserve waste on campus. Though most of the work is behind the scenes, the dining halls spend a lot of time recycling. Every purchase is sent in minimal packaging, usually in a pouch instead of a can or a box. They also have combined their deliveries in order to reduce the amount of air pollution released from trucks. They recycle all of their cans and cardboard, and at Corcoran Commons, employees do all of the sorting of recyclables in the kitchen.
One of the serious problems that Dining Services faces is the abundant use of the plastic to-go containers. Students are prone to use these containers even if they plan to stay in the dining hall. Dining Services goes through 4,000 cases, each containing 250 plastic medium-size containers, each year. "Our challenge is to get students to use china plates," said Helen Wechsler, the director of dining services. "The plastic containers cannot be recycled unless they are washed." Dining is also attempting to cut down the number of cardboard cups used by offering reduced refills for students who purchase special cups. This program, however, has not proven to be as effective here at Boston College as it has at other colleges and universities.
Ecopledge members agree that students should use refillable water bottles and coffee cups. Plastic water bottles are the most prominent piece of trash in landfills. Ecopledge is working on a campaign to supply all students with metal water bottles and to drink tap water.
The Boston area uses Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) water, which happens to be some of the cleanest water in the country. This water is filtered into a new purification system that uses ozone gas and is heavily regulated by the EPA. On the other hand, bottled water, such as Poland Spring, may not undergo the same amount of analysis and regulation. Also, the chemicals in a plastic Poland Spring bottle break down after multiple uses, presenting a health risk to drinkers.
Recycling on campus has proven to have a positive impact on several people. Ecopledge students promote recycling at football games. The employees, who direct parking during the games, hand out personal bags. These bags are then left in the tailgating area and picked up by a certain charitable organization, such as the Boys and Girls Club. All proceeds go to that charity. Bins have been added outside the stadium as well.
Another charity that benefits from Boston College's recycled cans is "Cans for Cancer." Steve Bianchi, an officer in BC Police Department, collects cans from the Mods and donates them to that cause.
Today, students on campus are more aware about recycling than ever before. "I have personally noticed a shift here at Boston College. People are more environmentally aware now with global warming and climate change," Cava said. Ecopledge has grown exponentially. With the increase in environmental concern, the amount of recycling has also expanded. Just three years ago, only 13 percent of waste was recycled. Now, 55 percent of the campus's waste is recycled. With the help of several dedicated employees and the members of Ecopledge, that percentage may keep growing.
Deirdre Manning, the manager of utilities, said, "Students need to do their part. We live in an environment where there are limited resources. Recycling benefits both the environment and Boston College."
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