‘Dumpster Dive’ event promotes recycling
November 18, 2009 by CAITLIN BYRNES
Filed under News
A foul odor reeked from a pile of trash outside Russell Hall Tuesday afternoon, spreading from the Creswell stairs to the doors of Brumby.
No, the freshmen have not been fooled into believing it’s Saturday in Athens.
University Housing sustainability committee hosted a “Dumpster Dive” – a demonstration of how much recyclable material is thrown in the trash – in an effort to raise awareness about recycling.
“This is all about spreading the word,” Joel Eizenstat of the facilities group in University Housing said.
He was one of the three demonstration volunteers.
The trio took 24 hours of trash from the Russell Hall trash shoot and spread it on a blue tarp outside the hall.
Then, donning biohazard suits and thick gloves, they sorted through the trash to find what could have been recycled.
After sorting more than 600 pounds of trash, they found 36 percent could have been recycled.
“I thought it went pretty well,” Eizenstat said. “By at the end, after everything was bagged up, people were pretty amazed.”
The recyclables were sorted into two groups – containers, which includes plastics, aluminum, glass and steel, and paper/cardboard.
Of the more than 128 pounds recycled, the contents were split almost evenly between the two groups.
“The trash can in the bathroom is far closer than the recycling bin in the lobby,” Russell Hall Resident Assistant Josh McIntyre said about why so much is thrown away.
He said to combat waste, he picks recyclables from his hall trash can each day.
“A lot of RAs don’t recycle,” McIntyre said. “Really they need to be an example for their hallmates.”
And though many of the 1,814 people living in Brumby and Russell halls saw – and smelled – the demonstration, none participated.
Students had the chance to robe themselves in biosuits and help in the sort, but no one did.
“It all starts with one person setting the example,” demonstration leader and head of the University Housing sustainability committee David Berland said.
Additionally, a mass e-mail calling for participation was sent to the 629 employees of University Housing, but between classes and work, only the three leading the demonstration participated.
However, the lack of participation does not necessarily signal lack of interest.
Colin Donohue, a Russell Hall freshman from Marietta, stopped to look at the event. He said he was one of Monday’s guilty parties.
“I threw away one of those water bottles,” he said, pointing to the stack the trio had already gathered.
He said the demonstration made him change his ways.
“I will definitely make an effort to recycle,” he said.
This is not the only recycling effort around campus.
Eizenstat has helped to install 49 recycling stations, which offer four slots for paper, cans, plastic/glass and trash, around campus.
However, the bins come at a price – $500 to be exact.
The University needs student support in making it to the nearest available bin, Eizenstat said.
Last year the physical plant did a similar demonstration in Myers Quad.
“I don’t know if we could measure the difference [that effort made],” Beland said. “We are just trying to reach the freshmen.”
Despite its shortfalls, Eizenstat said the University has come a long way when it comes to recycling by sending things such as vegetable oil and fallen tree limbs to be reused instead of to the dump.
