Recycling readily available for Rams
By the end of this year, 13,856 trees will have been saved
thanks to recycling efforts at CSU.
Today on the Lory Student Center Plaza, reducing, reusing and
recycling will be celebrated in full as the Associated Students of
CSU and the CSU Recycling Committee present America Recycles Day, a
nationally recognized holiday dedicated to the three R’s.
Marjie Griek, executive director of the Colorado Association for
Recycling, said the purpose of the day is to raise awareness about
recycling.
“It’s to encourage people to continue to recycle and to bring
some education to closing the loop and buying recycled-content
products. It’s a good way to focus people’s awareness on recycling.
Otherwise you sort of get lost in the shuffle of daily living,”
Griek said. “It also gives people a chance to connect locally to
participate in events, learn about their local programs and find
other people who are doing similar things.”
Both CSU and the City of Fort Collins are hosting America
Recycles Day events. At CSU, tables will be set up on the Plaza
featuring sponsors such as New Belgium Brewing Company and several
local sanitation companies that offer recycling services. Mayor Ray
Martinez will be at CSU at noon to present a proclamation to the
sponsors.
Also, students will have the opportunity to sign pledge cards
promising to recycle; the cards will then be put in a drawing for a
2004 Ford Focus donated by Dellenbach Motors.
This year, CSU and Fort Collins have joined forces to offer cell
phone recycling. The phone collection bins will be available on the
Plaza today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and at Wild Oats at 200 W.
Foothills Parkway on Saturday.
Sheila Bracken, integrated solid waste program manager at CSU,
said cell phone recycling is an important new trend because cell
phones create waste that can be harmful to the planet.
“(A cell phone) has a lot of things in it like lead that aren’t
good to put into the landfill. It’s a lot like recycling a
computer. It’s got a computer board and lots of things in it that
are not good for our Earth,” she said.
Britta Schroeder, a senior forestry major and associate director
of environmental affairs at ASCSU, hopes the event will raise
awareness about what can and cannot be recycled and also encourage
students to utilize the recycling facilities CSU offers.
“A lot of times, I see students throwing away a plastic bottle
or an aluminum can when they can just take to the recycling bin
around the corner. If you just hold onto it for two more seconds,
you can put it in the recycling bin,” she said. “CSU makes it very
easy for students to recycle, especially in the residence
halls.”
Griek thinks recycling is an important part of life that
everyone should work toward. She pointed out that recycling a
product not only saves that item from filling up a landfill, but it
also conserves water, energy and produces jobs within communities.
She said that recycling something requires 95 percent less energy
than making a new product from scratch.
“I don’t think it matters if you’re a kindergartener or a
college student or someone in your 60s; recycling is important
because we have finite resources here on Earth and there’s no sense
in using them up before we have to,” she said. “Don’t dispose of
things, put them in the recycling loop. And don’t forget to buy
recycled-content products.”
Bracken said people need to recycle as much as possible to
conserve the natural resources and save the earth. She advises
students to take advantage of CSU’s efforts to promote recycling
and to contact her office at 491-0113 if they have any
questions.
“We have provided bins for every room on campus and now all of
the apartments also have bins that Housing and Food Services has
provided. Use them,” she said. “If they want to put together
meetings to find out what can and can’t be recycled on campus, we
love to do presentations to anybody that’s willing to listen.”
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