New pilot program to boost campus-wide recycling

University of Cincinnati Facilities Management Department and Utilities Services is scheduled to kick off a pilot recycling program next month as part of a campus-wide effort to encourage sustainability in the UC community.

The new recycling program is funded by a $15,000 grant from Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District and a supplementary $15,000 awarded by UC.

The funds are slated to supply 100 22-gallon recycling bins to be placed throughout all West Campus instructional buildings and 11 6-yard recycling dumpsters to be placed in designated Main Campus zones.

UC's current recycling program includes 117 90-gallon mixed office paper recycling receptacles located across 33 Main Campus and Academic Health Center buildings.

The new recycling program is set to operate on a single-stream system that allows all recyclable materials to be put in one dumpster, rather than separated into individual bins. Shaun Finley, Utilities Services' energy sustainability coordinator, said he thinks the single-stream system will generate more program involvement.

"Single-stream recycling takes the time out of sorting or finding the right bin," Finley said. "It's the same concept as using the trash."

As part of the recycling program, a Pitch-In challenge is scheduled to be held April 1 to April 30 to spread awareness about sustainability.

The challenge is designed to be a competition between UC's colleges and includes tallying the weight of recycled waste in Pitch-In bins around Main Campus buildings. The college that recycles the most waste during the month of April will be awarded a yet-to-be-determined incentive prize.

A follow-up Pitch-In challenge is scheduled to be held Oct. 1 to Oct. 31.

Finley said the program is an avenue to transform UC into a more environmentally conscious institution.

"We have to reduce waste by increasing recycling," Finley said. "My hope is we become the Jolly Green Giant."

Pitch-In is a component of a larger initiative to promote sustainable living among UC students, faculty and staff, including efforts in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning and the UC Housing Conservation Challenge.

Initiated in 2006 and held bi-annually, the challenge tracks energy conservation, water use and recycling efforts among university residence halls. Participants in the November 2007 challenge recycled more than 9,000 pounds of waste during the one-month competition.

The new recycling program coincides with an on-going DAAP effort to jumpstart its own recycling program.

"It was a perfect storm of everyone having the same idea at the same time," said Elizabeth Pisciotta, recycling coordinator for DAAP's Students for Ecological Design (SED).

"In the United States, there's a big sustainability push, and everyone's trying to amp up their level of involvement. I really think this program is the push that will get it started at UC."

The recycling program comes after a decade of DAAP grass-root attempts to implement a successful recycling program, including a trial program where students collected recyclables in their design studios and delivered them to recycling centers across campus.

"We learned the farther away you have to carry the waste, the less likely you are to recycle," Pisciotta said.

The new program allows for a six-yard recycling dumpster to be placed on DAAP's loading dock and seven 22-gallon recycling bins, also funded by the Pitch-In grant, to be placed throughout public spaces in DAAP instructional buildings.

To track the success of the new recycling program, SED plans to organize a group of student volunteers to conduct a waste audit comparing the amount of waste recycled to the amount tossed in the garbage. The audit will take place during finals week, DAAP's most waste-producing time.

"Cleaning crews take tens, if not hundreds, of trips to the dumpster at the end of the quarter with carts full of junk from studios, most of which can be recycled," said Anton Harfmann, DAAP's associate dean of Academic Technology and Facilities.

SED is expanding the new program by generating increased funding to put recycling bins in every design studio where most of the college's waste is produced, and is also planning a design contest to create an educational poster on recycling to be posted around DAAP's instructional buildings.

To check the progress of the Pitch-In challenge or for more information on UC's sustainability efforts, visit UC's sustainability Web site at www.uc.edu/af/sustainability.