Two and a half months ago, a group of students in Nancy Gonlin’s class, worked on a very interesting project. They began to observe and collect data on the usage of the trash cans and recycle bins all around campus. Their findings indicated that there was a lot more work needed to be done so as to educate BC’s campus on what items need to be recycled, composted or trashed. The biggest concern observed was that the garbage was being put in recycle bins and recyclable material in trash cans.
So Facilities Operations, with support from the Sustainability initiative, reorganized the bins and made sure that every trash can had a recycle bin beside it in all exterior areas. We made sure to make a distinction through color coordinating the bins all over campus; brown = garbage and blue = recycle.
Rick Jordan II, a student in Nancy Gonlin’s class, has since conducted another follow-up experiment. I am pleased to announce that the amount plastic bottles placed in garbage bins have reduced immensely! His report states that, “Out of the 20 sets of recycle/trash bins surveyed, more than 95% of the trash bins had ZERO plastic bottles; all were placed in the recycling bins. This is an 80% decrease in plastic bottles being thrown away as trash.”
I hope that with each upcoming quarter, Bellevue College’s campus will be more educated about sustainable practices and use the recycle bins around campus appropriately.
Last Updated June 13, 2012