Fall 2007: The Wonderful World of Waste
Now that you’ve completed both a basic audit of the recycling bins in your building, and perhaps even participated in our first waste sort, what do you think are the motivators for students to recycle (i.e. why do students recycle?) On the flip side, what are the barriers that you’ve seen or experienced in your residence halls (i.e. why don’t students recycle?)
~Christina
posted by UVM Eco-Reps Program Coordinator @ 9:51 AM
20 Comments:
For the students that do recycle, I think that they consider environmental and social impacts of landfills. Many students are aware of how toxic landfills are and do not want to add to them. The water contamination and air pollution they cause is not palatable. Social impacts like human disease and environmental racism are important to a lot of students, too. To many, it does not make sense to contribute to these problems if it can be avoided. I think compassion drives some students while sensibility drives others. The availability and wide advertisements for recycling in the resident halls also motivates and reminds students to recycle what they can.
The biggest barrier to recycling is business on the part of students. Because there are a lot of thoughts and responsibilities that students juggle in day-to-day life, recycling is not one of their top priorities. Some days students just have to function in order to get to the next day. I empathize with that sentiment. If a student worries about recycling everything he/she uses, he/she might go crazy trying to tailor his/her life around that goal. Another barrier is our fast pace lifestyle which has resulted in conveniences like take out containers, paper cups, etc. Students are cultured to use those things in everyday life because it is "normal" to do so. It's hard to go against the culture that one has grown up in.
I believe that students recycle for many reasons that all work synergistically. First, because UVM is known throughout as an "environmental" school, people who come here pick up the "culture" that it is popular or ethical to recycle or else one is not being a good person. Either that or they come here because they already practice recycling and going to a school that supports their behavior is just another incentive for them to recycle. A second reason is that they get here not knowing anything and then being educated by RAs, programs on campus, signs and friends about the commonplace-ness of recycling here and they eventually pick up the practice. Third, a general sense of responsibility and ethics encourage students to see recycling as being an act of kindness and do it from a eco-spiritual point of view. I certainly do not view recycling just from an environmental aspect but also from a spiritual/ethical perspective.
The biggest barrier is the opposite of all the reasons I stated above. People who are resistant to the culture of recycling here at UVM are less likely to pick up the practice because they see it as extra work. People who did not recycle back in their hometown are unfamiliar with recycling and are less likely to purposefully go about learning it if they don't see the point. Finally, people who don't have a sense of responsibility to the world that supports them will see no incentive to give back to the world by recycling. I met two residents in my building who had a negative reaction to our being there and passive-aggressively attacked the need for recycling. I usually get over this barrier by informing them of their dependence on the earth's natural resources and the need to protect natural resources for their children if they plan on having any.
-Daniel
I think peer pressure plays a big role in student's willingness to recycle or compost. If students see other students doing something to be environmentally conscious, they think they should do it too. The people who set the examples, though, follow a different motivation; I think most of these students are more aware than other students and realize the benefits of recycling and the consequences of being wasteful.
I think a large barrier is that people don't see where the recycling goes or what happens to it. They have to think about what to do with what, but in the end, they just see it go out with the trash, and have to trust that their time spent thinking about recycling was worth it. Also, like Kasey was saying in her post, it is just so "normal" now to use disposable items to make life "easier." Until we have enough people recycling to make it "normal," we are going to have difficulties getting people to recycle.
I believe that those that recycle do it because they realize that doing so is a simple way that they can reduce the un-necessary impact humans have on their environment. I think another reason people who recycle do so is that it seems foolish not to. It takes almost just as long to throw something in a recycle bin(or walk a few hundred paces to find one) as it does something to throw something out.
The motivation behind not recycling is threefold: Lack of awareness, laziness, and apathy.
I have a girl in my hall who approached me as an eco rep, to tell me that she admires the environmentally conscious atmosphere of UVM, but it is somewhat of a culture shock, and is going to take some getting used to since she came from Texas, a place where hardly anyone recycles.
Laziness is sadly a common reason why people do not recycle. I've observed that if there is not a recycling bin in the immediate vicinity (i.e. in the room they are in) they will not even walk outside a room and around a corner to find a recycle bin. Others may be too lazy to separate recycleables from trash in their rooms, and mix it all together.
Apathy is probably the least common factor, but is still present in the university. There will always be those that do not comprehend the impacts of their actions, or understand the gravity of a situation, and pre-occupy themselves with superficial things.
-Arielle
It is apparent from the trash audits that the students in Harris Millis are using the recycling bins. There is an obvious effort put forth to separate trash from recyclable goods. I believe that students do recognize the impact of the lifestyles we live and they are making a conscious effort to promote sustainability.
Because Harris Millis has a majority of first year students, recycling opportunities may be new. In my high school we had limited recycling and there was a not a huge drive in the separation of trash and recycling. There may be confusion in what can be recycled and what cannot be recycled, even with the signs we post. In response to Kasey's comment on to go containers. Many students act out of convience. Washing out a reusable mug may be a hassle and to use a paper cup provided at the Marche or at Alice's is easier. I hope the information we are posting throughout campus helps students realize the importance of taking care of our environment and also limiting the cost of taking trash, compost, and recycling away.
I think that at UVM many people recycle because they both tend to be more aware of the environmental impacts of landfills (as Kasey pointed out) from being at a very green and liberal school such as UVM, but also because UVM makes it very easy for people to recycle. A huge difference between UVM and my old school is that not only are there recycling bins set up all over campus, but they are in every dorm room as well, which makes it convenient and also reminds students to recycle.
I think that one of the biggest barriers to recycling is the availabilty of disposable utensils, take out boxes, and cups. For people who are constantly on the go, such as students, this makes it very convenient to eat in between classes, or bring a drink to class. In addition, if there isn't a recycling bin readily available, many people won't tend to hold on to that water bottle or juice container and wait to recycle when they are back in their room, but instead just dispose of it in the trash.
-Mackenzie
Overall Jeanne Mance residents don’t really seem care about world concerns unless it directly affects them. Many residents that don’t recycle use time as a common excuse. It’s hard to get the word across to your peers who can care less about recycling.
For those residents that do recycle and or compost add to the overall moral. I rely on them to help spread the word of Jeanne Mance's new recycling and compositing mania.
For those that do recycle it’s usually because its second nature to them. Few, but a good handful, of them realize the effects it has on the amount of unneeded waste. These are the residents that tend to look at the overall picture, for instance, what the world may look like 10 years if we didn’t recycle. Others who don’t share this mentality are often lost and usually don’t know how to adjust their lives to new concepts such as recycling and composting.
--Sabrina DeRose (JM)
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend the waste sort, which I'm sure was a good time for everyone who went. However, when I was auditing the recycle bins and trash containers, I was quite surprised by the amount of stuff in the recycling bins. On each floor, the recycling bins were much fuller than the garbage bins. I'm really glad that people are using the bins rather than being lazy and throwing everything in the trash. Even though there was a lot of contamination in the recycle bins (many different types of plastic and caps still on) I feel that at least people are making an effort. I think the students are motivated to use recycle because they know that those materials can be reused, which will create less waste, and in the long run help out the state of Earth. There are signs all over campus that encourage recycling and in many cases recycling is made convenient when a bin is placed right next to the trash . Why would you throw a recyclable in the trash when you could easily throw it in the recycling bin? The biggest barrier to recycling is probably laziness. People tend to throw everything in one bag and put it in the trash. There are a lot of people who just don't care enough. There are also a lot of people who don't know what can be recycled and what can't. When it comes to different kinds of plastics, people are unsure of which ones are ok to recycle and which ones aren't, so they either throw everything in the recycling or throw everything in the trash. Until our last meeting, I didn't even know which plastics were able to be recycled here. With the signs on/above all the recycling bins, it's easy to see what can and can't be recycled, but again, a lot of people are just to lazy to look at them. Hopefully some people will check out our bulletin boards or take the time to look at the posters/stickers above the trash cans to see what belongs in the recycling and what belongs in the trash so they become more educated about recycling and do the right thing.
Alice
In Millis, when I audited floors 1 & 2, i was surprised. All 4 of the recycling areas were alot neater than I expected. The biggest challenge I've encountered was my compost bucket being taken by housekeeping- it could have made a big impact, I think. It was gone for good when I looked for it!! Most of the floors, although the bins were fairly empty since I did the audit at around 5, seemed to put the recyclables in the correct bins, and leave most of the trash out of it. I think one thing that we could improve is make big, colorful signs to hang ABOVE the recycling bins instead of on the front, where they are less noticeable and many students might not read them.
We need to work to make recycling part of every student's thought processes and daily lives. It's so easy to just throw a bag into the first bin they see, but we need to show them that recycling that one bottle, or that one old article they printed out for a class and don't need anymore, really makes a difference. Making everything easy to read and incredibly simple, is the best way to go about that in Millis, I think.
Students that do recycle definitely consider the impact of their actions, and think before they empty their trash cans and recycling bins. They figure that, recycling is so easy here at UVM, so why not just do it? We should try and help all students think this way, and prove to them that it does make a difference!!
-Kate R.
I think it is a really good thing that so many people are trying to recycle. Sometimes they don't always know what the correct items to recycle are, but at least they are putting in the effort. Now all they need is to learn the rules about what can and cannot be recycled.
One barrier is that some people know absolutely nothing about recycling and therefore don't even bother because they don't really get why you would recycle. I actually ran into one resident who wasn't sure if they could recycle paper!
The other barrier is the bottled water phenominon. It is out of control.
Students seem to take the easier road. Recycling is a little less convenient because they have to walk down the hall. The biggest barrier in my hall seems to be my RA's reluctance to let me have a bulletin board. I did manage to secure a bulletin board however.
Erin K
Wills
Reasons to recycle for student come from their concern about the future of our environment. I find it important to stress how the easiest things to do are personal and that to recycle really does a make a difference. When students figure out how simple recycling is, they start to make the effort to put products in the right containers.
Its hard to reach the student who just don't understand that they can make a difference. Alot of students are ignorant and apathetic to the problem because it does not directly effect them. Unfortunately there are many stubborn people in the world and the only thing that can be done is to show them the facts.
-Bitsy!
I think the majority of students that do recycle, have been brought up in households that recycle and have grown to subconsciously recycle their bottles and paper goods. A large majority of students recycle because UVM has made recycling available through informational signs and convenient locations for the recycling bins. In the Davis Center, the trash is divided into bottle/cans, paper, compost and trash. For each bin there are pictures of what type of trash can be put in each bin. This makes students aware of what can and can’t be recycled while making it super convenient at the same time. A few of the barriers that I have seen in my hall is that students have grown up in other areas that allow them to recycle many different plastic #’s which is why plastic smoothie cups and plastic wraps have been found in the recycling bin. Another barrier is that some students are simply just ignorant to ramifications of not recycling or contaminating the recycling.
I think that a big factor in whether or not s student recycles is if he or she has done so in the past, either at home or previous years at school.
For students who have never recycled before it is new for them to all of a sudden have huge recycling bins right next to the trash, and it is up to them to know how they can use it. The posters that go up next to them do a good job of making it clear what you can and cannot recycle. But Maybe students do not pay attention to them because of the size of the poster. If It was bigger and more plain students would not have to try as hard to read what you can recycle.
Phil
I think recycling is a habit that most students dont consciously think about everytime they throw something away/recycle. We tend to do things just out of pattern. Students who are used to recycling do it without really giving it much thought. I think most students are informed of the responsibility to recycle. I do not think students who dont recycle dont care, I think they are just in the habit of not recycling often. Habits, I feel can be learned over time, as long as we keep reminding them how easy and important it is.
One of the biggest barriers is that people simply do not know what can and cannot be recycled. A lot of people know that paper can be and therefore i saw a lot of paper in the recycling. However, I saw things in the recycling which were understandable misjudged. For instance, orange juice containers and frozen food boxes. Clearly, students are trying to make an effort but there are common items which they would not expect could not be recycled. Students probably don't take the time to read the signs and I think it would be a useful thing to bring up at floor meetings, just list a few easily misjudged items which people either could recycle or should not. Also, I think UVM should allow students to recycle beer cans without fear of punishment. By punishing kids they are NOT reducing the rate of drinking, simple the rate of recycling. I noticed quite a few beer cans in the recycling on several floors.
- Liz White
I think a lot of students recycle because it is an easy way for them to feel like they are doing something to help the environment. Also, I think a lot of people grew up recycling, whether at home or at school, so it is simply a part of their life. A lot of people come to UVM partly because it is a "green" campus, so they feel like recycling is something they should do, especially since it is pretty easy to do here with recycling bins all over the place and no need to separate items anymore.
I think the biggest barrier to recycling is not thinking that what they do can make a difference or just not knowing about recycling. Many people think that one person's actions won't make a difference, so if they don't recycle, then it's no big deal. Also, a lot of people don't know what can and cannot be recycled. Additionally, with how crazy people's lives are, some people just flat out forget. Some people in the dorms don't realize that the recycling bins are different from the garbage bins and dump their wonderfully sorted recycling in the trash. I have seen that many times and sometimes will pull stuff out if it's right on top. Finally, some students are just too lazy. If the recycling bin is 10 feet further than the garbage, they won't walk the "farther" distance and will instead throw something out instead of recycling it.
Steph
I feel that one of the biggest reasons students do not properly recycle everything in the dorms is simply do to the lack of care and importance they place on the activity. Many students, unfortunately, do not see the direct benefit of recycling properly, which leads them to place less importance on it, because they do not directly gain individually from it. However, after communicating the universal importance of responsible behavior, most students were willing to listen and develop better habits in the future.
The nature of "throw-away" conveniences in food and other good purchases, leaves most trash cans filled with waste, but this phenomenon is primarily do to consumerism and the culture of capitalism, rather than neglect on the part of students. Hopefully in future years, we can encourage local consumption and minimal waste product for the few things that we must buy to subsist.
-Colin H
I noticed that more people were recycling pizza boxes as well as drink cans and newspapers and I feel that it is because the recycling bins are very accessible and that those types of materials are widely known to be recylable. However, I noticed that a lot of people did not recycle plastic food containers because they still contained food and it was easier to throw them away altogether.
Also, a lot of students throw away large plastic bags of garbage from their rooms instead of emptying their garbage cans and by doing that they throw away things that can be recycled but instead put them in the large garbage bags so they only have to carry one thing down the hall, so I think creating awareness/motivation is going to be the top issue for my building.
-Katherine Moser
I think the biggest issue relating to recycling is the accesability, and distance traveled in order to recycle. It seems that recycling is a great succes when there is a recycling bin right next to a trash can. In the cases when they are seperate it seems that people will be lazy and throw their recyclbles in the first bin that they see.
I do beleieve that most people at UVM do make some sort of effor to recycle. Most people wont travel a far distance, but when recycling is an option most people will use it. Obviously there are the people who will go far and beyond, and will recycle at all costs. But, there are also people who don't beleieve in sustainability andprotecting teh environment. It is tough to change these polar ideals, but what we can do is make sure that everyone in between makes some sort of effor to recycle. If we do this we can really improve the statistics, and the world?
-Michael Rubin
I think many students recycle because they understand why it is important (to reduce waste going into the landfills and to reuse what we already have) or they have been trained to do it since birth, like myself, whether it has been in a home or school setting. I feel fortunate to have been raised in a school system that recycled paper and plastic bottles. My parents also were pretty disciplined about recycling while I was growing up. In my res hall, I think some students recycle because we have recycling bins in the rooms and the recycling area is clearly labeled. I think many students don’t recycle for a number of reasons. It may be that they don’t understand why it is important to recycle, and they just throw everything into the trash. Also, it may be that they don’t think they will make much of a difference, or they just flat out don’t care. Unfortunately, I think many college students don’t care about the direct effects we have on our environment. Finally, I think that many people don’t know what recycling is or why it is important. I think a lack of education about recycling and reusing is one of the biggest challenges we face as Eco-Reps. If students have never before in their lives learned about recycling and its benefits, it will be hard to teach them now. One of the challenges I’ve seen living in the dorms is that students don’t recycle because either they don’t care, or they aren’t bothered to check the labels on the bins that tell them what to put inside. I think if the bins were differently colored that it might be easier for people to recycle.
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