Opinions

Campus needs education on recycling

One student throwing a Coke bottle inside a recycle bin won’t make much of a difference; however, having over 35,000 students put their recyclable beverages in a blue bin would bring forth a much-needed change on campus.

Cal State University Long Beach placed recycling bins throughout the campus in order to encourage recycling. Although our university has made tremendous strides in terms of designing a sustainable campus (this year we received an award for implementing the best “Student Energy Efficiency Program” out of all the CSUs), we can always strive to achieve more. Educating students on the importance and benefits of recycling would further this goal, creating a positive difference in peoples’ lives and on the surrounding environment.

On a daily basis, countless of students on campus throw away perfectly good recyclable materials in trash cans instead of finding a recycle bin. According to the website DoSomething, the average person produces over four pounds of waste each day. Also, DoSomething points out that over 75 percent of waste can be recycled, but people only recycle around 30 percent of these materials.

A substantial amount of the trash students generate on campus comes from food products. DoSomething states that humans create 21.5 million tons of food waste every year: if society were to compost this food waste, it would decrease the same amount of greenhouse gas as removing two billion cars off the street.

The use of paper is a must for many students; however, dumping it in the trash after an assignment is finished definitely adds up over time. According to the website Keep America Beautiful, Americans in 2010 trashed more than $2.8 billion worth of paper and threw away enough papers to blanket 26,700 football fields.

Having a campus that consistently recycles benefits everyone.

Recycling decreases the need for raw materials and uses less energy. This leads to the preservation of natural resources and reduction of deforestation.

The process of recycling can even assist students conserve the money in their wallets. The website Recycling Guide claims that purchasing products created from raw materials is much more expensive than buying products produced through recycling.

Increasing recycling will also result in more employment opportunities. According to the website Benefits-of-Recycling, 1.1 million jobs in the U.S. are made possible because of recycling.

The school needs to figure out a way to effectively fill this need of recycling on campus, and education can provide the prefect tool. It doesn’t have to be a giant, elaborate campaign. Putting up posters all across campus that stress the importance and benefits of recycling would certainly be an improvement.

Working alongside the Associated Students, Inc. Recycling Center on campus to increase promotion on the topic is another approach the school could take in order to educate its students.

The bottom line is this: the school needs to concentrate on educating its students about the benefits and importance of recycling in an effort to reduce the substantial amount of waste generated on campus.

Educating students about the implications of dropping a Coke bottle into a recycling bin on campus will have a lasting impact on the students of CSULB, the surrounding community and the environment for decades to come.

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