Dumpster Dive: An Event to Raise Recycling Awareness
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Dumpster Dive Discoveries
By Daphne Firos
On Wednesday, October 22, 2003 Green Practices held a waste audit,
a.k.a.“Dumpster Dive” outside Doherty Hall. Participants
included Barb Kviz, environmental coordinator, students Daphne Firos
and Jasdeep Khaira, as well as Al Matyasovsky, Penn State recycling
coordinator. At the event 44 campus trash bags of various sizes and
weights were sorted, and a total of 14 full bags worth of recyclables
were found.
Recyclable material was sorted into 4 main categories: bottles/cans/glass,
office paper, newsprint, and cardboard. Co-mingled bottles/can/glass
are prevalent in campus trash from both the dorms and academic buildings,
despite the numerous recycling bins for these materials. Significant
amounts of cardboard were also found, comprising 23% of the volume
collected from academic buildings.
As a whole, residence halls are recycling at a far higher rate than
academic buildings. Of the 200 lb of trash collected from residence
halls, about 40 lb was recyclable, while approximately 90 lb of the
220 lb from academic buildings could have been recycled. We identified
office paper recycling opportunities in Margaret Morrison Hall and
Posner Hall and found problems with the bottles/cans/glass recycling
in Doherty Hall.
The waste audit was conducted in order to not only inform the campus
of our progress, but also to determine what areas on campus need greater
recycling education. While the campus community has increased its
recycling since the establishment of recycling at Carnegie Mellon
in 1990, every bottle tossed into the trash is a missed opportunity
to make a difference.
The goal of Green Practices is to have 35% of campus trash recycled.
Carnegie Mellon currently recycles 16% of its trash; however national
standards show that 45% of all trash can be recycled. Green Practices
is working to have a recycling container next to every trash bin,
as well as reduce campus waste in general. While recycling is an important
achievable goal, we need to focus on generating less waste to begin
with," says Kviz.
Sources:
Al Matyasovsky, Penn State recycling coordinator
814.863.4719 (office) aem3@psu.edu
Barb Kviz, CMU environmental coordinator
412.268.7858 (office) bk11@andrew.cmu.edu
Jasdeep Khaira, CMU student
If you have any questions about recycling on campus visit
The Green Practices Recycling Page
or
email recycle@andrew.cmu.edu
