St. John's students continue with citizen journalism projects:

 Recycling Mania – Are We Catching It?

 By Janelle Person, 21, ODU Spring 2008 Graduate  

Brian Salzbach, 22, a senior at Old Dominion University, says no one he knows recycles.“It’s not something we really worry about, I guess.We’re college students.We worry enough about affording the food that comes in the boxes and the soda that comes in the cans,” he says with a hint of a sigh. “Recycling the left over material isn’t really a big deal to us right now.”

What’s more, the average ODU student doesn’t think the school’s administration takes recycling as seriously as it should either.“I think the recycling program they have here is a joke,” says Kevin Merryman, 18, a freshman at ODU.Merryman complains that the school only recycles plastic bottles, and never empties the recycling bins.He also notes that students use the recycling bins for their trash, because there aren’t enough trash cans either.“We might as well not even have a recycling program,” he says.

Adam Zetts, 22, a senior at ODU, acknowledges the efforts of the administration, but shares some of Merryman’s opinions.“They are making an effort by putting the bins around campus,” he says. “But there is a bit of a time lag on the pick up of the recyclables.Good job, I suppose, but they won’t win any awards for it.”

In fact, they already have.ODU was recognized with the River Stars Award for its recycling efforts in January 2007.The award was presented by the Elizabeth River Project, a nonprofit organization that works to restore the Elizabeth River through community partnerships.Student volunteers recycled 220,000 pounds of material, and, with the help of the staff, they collected 2,500 pounds of litter for the Adopt-A-Stream Program.

Two hundred-twenty thousand pounds of material may seem like a lot, but it’s nothing compared to the school’s annual goals.During the 2005-2006 school year, the school collected 350,000 pounds. The next year, the total reached 530,000.This year, the goal is 700,000 pounds, and according to Harvey Logan, ODU's Recoverable Resources Manager, the campus is on its way to meeting that goal.

Each year, the school has increased the quantity and the types of recycled materials it collects, and has received greater participation from the campus community.“We’ll keep trying to be bigger and better,” says Logan.

Facilities Management’s recycling operating budget totals $85,000 for the fiscal year.The budget is developed with departmental historical data alongside decisions made by Facilities Management and the senior administration officers.

One hundred-fifty man hours are spent on recycling at the Facilities Management office every week.The expenses associated with recycling (fuel, vehicle maintenance, trash bags, containers, etc.) are eased by the money brought in from selling some materials (white paper and metals).Outside of salaries, the program just breaks even.

According to Logan, there are over 500 recycling container units on campus.This total consists of both the desk-side bins and the larger bins located in all the common areas around the campus, he says.

It’s strange, then, that students often complain about a lack of recycling bins.“I honestly don’t know where any are,” says Kourtney Houghtaling, 21, an ODU junior.Jordan Preisler, 26, a senior at ODU, can remember seeing only a few recycling bins shaped like giant plastic bottles around campus, but nothing else.

Many students believe that if the school was serious about recycling, there would be a recycling bin in every dorm room.“Students asked that there be containers on each floor of Whitehurst and I asked that this be done,” says Roseanne Runte, ODU’s president.“I think walking down the hall is not too much to ask, especially if the containers are close to the elevators. I do not think that we need to have containers in every room.That is a bit excessive!”

Tammy Park-Farinholt, the Campus Housing Director, agrees with Runte.“I don’t see how individual bins would help,” she says. The students would still be expected to take recyclables out of their rooms and put them in the large containers at the end of the hallways.“It’s hard enough to get them to use those as it is,” she says.

Nevertheless, Logan says that ODU is considered a model by schools in the immediate region, because of its consistency in year-to-year growth.Recycling at ODU rates high when compared to other universities, he says.

This statement is not hard to believe, especially because ODU is essentially the only institution of its size in Hampton Roads.According to the federal Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Christopher Newport University, Hampton University, Norfolk State University, Virginia Wesleyan College, and Regent University, have total student populations ranging from 1,417 students to 6,238 students.But none of these come close to ODU’s total student population of 21,625.

Conveniently for those who would like to make a comparison, ODU is currently taking part in Recycle Mania, a 10-week long, nation-wide competition that compares the success of participating campuses in a variety of recycling endeavors.According to the University’s Student Environmental Coordinator, Ryan Lester, ODU’s main focus in the competition is on the “Gorilla Prize.”The “Gorilla Prize” trophy is awarded to the school that collects the highest gross tonnage of recyclables, regardless of campus population.

At the end of week six this past spring, ODU was in 70^th place out of 159 schools.Virginia Wesleyan College (VWC), located approximately 11 miles away, was ranked in 145^th place.This ranking is somewhat misleading, because VWC has done comparably well throughout the competition.The school’s population of 1,417 collected 11,439 pounds of material (8.07 pounds per person) while ODU’s student population of 21,625 collected only 64, 660 pounds (2.99 pounds per person).

“Across campus, many students, faculty, and staff promote the importance of recycling,” says Ashley Tishko, 20, a sophomore at VWC.“Many people encourage recycling, and every dorm on campus has a recycling bin in the room.”

James Madison University (JMU), a Virginia school located outside of Hampton Roads, has a comparable population to ODU, totaling 17,393. At the end of that sixth week, JMU was at 25^th place, with 226,037.5 pounds of collected material (13.00 pounds per person).

Sasha Ernest, 22, a senior at JMU, remembers her environmentally friendly dorm during her sophomore year.“In our basement we had different sections for disposal: garbage, boxes and cans. Because it was so easy, everyone recycled,” she says.

So how did ODU manage to collect half a million pounds of material last year when students don’t even know where the recycling bins are?Here’s a hint:It’s not from student participation.According to Ryan Lester, the recycling program collects the most material from the construction sites, Webb Center eateries, the book store, and the library.The most common recyclables are paper, cardboard, aluminum, metals, wood, grass clippings, and food waste (cooking oil).

Students don’t realize how much recycling the school does, because most of it happens behind the scenes.“One to two people every month will contact me, asking why the school isn’t recycling material “X”,” says Lester, “But 99 percent of the time, we really are.” The recycling program is very successful, he says.

However, when the average student at ODU hears the word “recycling,” success is not the first thing that comes to mind.Instead, they think of New Page (New Portals to Appreciating our Global Environment), a class on sustainable development.It was mandatory for all freshmen during their fall semester and replaced three general education credit hours.The course was first taught in the fall of 2004 and continued through the fall of 2007, until the administration cut the program due to student complaints, a lack of participation, and debate concerning the importance of general education classes.

Amberly Pecsek, 21, a senior at ODU, was enrolled in the first New Page class ever offered. “I think there were good intentions behind New Page, but failed ones,” she says.“It just resulted in an angry student body, rather than increased environmental awareness.”

Logan disagrees.Every student in the course was required to do a number of community service hours that were directed towards helping the environment.“The students did everything that was expected of them and more,” he says.Because there were so many students involved, more recyclable material was collected and processed daily than ever before.“Student participation in the recycling program took recycling on campus to a new level and raised the bar for recycling at ODU from now on,” he says.

“Most schools put up signs and expect people to actually do their civic duty,” Lester says.“We prefer to pressure our students into recycling by talking to them personally…It’s like inertia.Students are always at a stop.But if we push them hard enough, and get them moving—they’ll continue,” he says.

Carl Pucci, 19, an ODU sophomore, was affected by the inertia of New Page, and says it was an excellent program.“The class was developed by a whole bunch of people who believed in something and wanted to do something positive…I credit it with a lot,” he says.

Pucci was prompted by New Page to create a group of 20 students called “Students Undertaking Responsibilities for the Global Environment” (SURGE), which encouraged both faculty and students to participate in recycling efforts around the campus and the Hampton Roads area.In response to the group’s efforts, President Runte created the Environmental Advisory Panel (EAP), and appointed Pucci as her Student Environmental Policy Advisor.

“I am a living, breathing example of the butterfly effect,” says Pucci. If New PAGE hadn’t existed, he wouldn’t be the EAP’s student advisor.He never would have created SURGE.And he wouldn’t drive to Richmond ever week to lobby with state delegates about the need for funding to support sustainable development on campus.

“With the funding they have now, I think the ODU recycling program is doing the best they can,” says Pucci.“They could definitely be better, but only with proper funding.”

But participation from ODU students is also a concern.“I don’t think students consciously make an effort to recycle at ODU for the most part…I’ve never really paid attention to it,” Preisler says.

Although most of the dormitories don’t show very much participation, Lester points out that the recycling program receives a good amount of material from Gresham Hall.What makes the students in Gresham so eco-friendly?They’re the international students.

Other countries tend to be much more eco-friendly than the United States.Many of the international students were raised with recycling values from a very young age, Lester explains.

Salzbach agrees, “Recycling has never really been pushed in the US, so every one just throws things away instead of recycling.”We just can’t seem to be bothered, he says

Ana Maria Timofte, 24, an ODU student from Romania sees things a different way.She says that Recycling was “practically non-existent” in most of Romania.“There’s a noticeable effort here.The recycling bins in the dorms are always full,” she says.

Omojo Odihi, 20, an ODU senior from Nigeria, also mentions the recycling bins, noting that she sees them everywhere on campus. “I was also amazed by the fact that Starbuck’s uses recycled materials,” she says, “Can you believe that? And it’s all so clean!”

Nigeria doesn’t have the facilities to do that.Odihi says that her family still recycles, but in different ways.She is familiar with the practice of reusing things like tin cans for food storage, toys, and cups.She notes that recycling has so much more potential in America. “But I see students throw away recyclables all the time…it seems that a lot of us are just complacent,” she says.

Benjamin Leyland, 23, an ODU senior from the United Kingdom offers a contrary view. He says that he has seen a stronger recycling program at ODU than he saw at any other school he attended or visited in the U.K.“Just having recycling as an issue on campus is a good thing,” he says. “Some sections of American society are more socially aware than the rest of the world gives them credit for.”

Perhaps ODU deserves more credit than the majority of students are offering.Despite some cynicism and a lack of student awareness on campus, recycling isn’t a “used up” idea.In fact, the campus and students may just be on the bring of “reusing” the concept in bigger and better ways.And that can all translate into helping our environment and holding down increases in college costs. A big deal, indeed.

 More stories from St. John's students:

Family Life and D.A.R.E. Education in Virginia Beach – Adequate or Antiquated?, by Becki Lee

The Struggle for Affordable Housing in Hampton Roads, by Amy Krieger

Neglecting the Promise of Public Transportation, by Jared White

Old Williamsburg, New Challenges, by Stephanie Calway

Not Just Studying Anymore: Life in the Navy ROTC, by Krysten Warren

The Quiet Side of Sex, by Ashley Jarvis

Not just studying any more: Life in the Navy ROTC, by Krysten Warren

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