Recycling efforts pay off on campus
Collection of recyclable materials in 2011 at Tulane including cardboard, paper, plastic bottles and metal cans topped figures in previous years. The estimated total recycled and donated in 2011 added up to nearly 1,540 tons of materials. With funding from the Coca-Cola Co., the Office of Environmental Affairs is offering recycling bins for key locations to uptown offices and departments.
Three types of recycling stations for paper, plastic bottles and aluminum cans will be available to departments and offices that send an application to Melissa Hew, who works with the recycling program. (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)
“This past year, we recycled 14 more tons of cardboard and 11 more tons of paper, plastic bottles and metal cans than in 2010,” says Melissa Hew, a 2011 graduate who works with the recycling program in the Office of Environmental Affairs.
Offices and departments interested in placing a bin in a particular space in a building should complete and submit the application by Feb. 17.
The Tulane uptown campus recycling program handles paper and cardboard, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, recyclable electronics and printer cartridges. Recycling is gaining momentum on the health sciences campus as well.
Beginning on Sunday (Feb. 5) through March 31, students will be participating in Recyclemania, a friendly competition among colleges and universities across the nation aimed to promote recycling and reduce waste.
“Our goal is to reach the point where every plastic bottle and aluminum can used on campus ends up in a recycle bin,” Hew says. “I would love to see the members of the Tulane community use the recycle bins that are available like it were second nature. Too often I look into a garbage can that is sitting right beside a recycle bin and see a plastic bottle or aluminum can.”
