New Recycling Effort Set to Begin on Campus
Nina Wu
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For the past several years, many UMB students, faculty and staff have been pushing the UMB administration to launch a recycling program on campus. A few weeks ago, their efforts paid off as the university’s Facilities Management department began placing recycling bins throughout campus.
Kelly Baker, a UMB graduate student in Microbiology and Immunology and president of the Graduate School Environmental Action Council (GSEAC), one of the UMB student organizations leading the recycling efforts on campus, is excited about the impending change. She believes that “practically everyone want[ed] to make UMB a more sustainable campus…it was just a matter of [overcoming] the economic hurdle.”
Members of the UMB community can now recycle not only paper, but also aluminum cans, and plastic and glass bottles in clearly-marked bins currently being distributed throughout the campus by Facilities Management.
Baker hopes that the UMB community will follow the most “green” mantra of all: “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” “[R]ecycling should be a safety net…for unavoidable generation of trash,” she said.
She emphasized that the public should try to minimize or avoid producing excess waste—even that which is recyclable. “[I]f people as consumers, both at home and at work, commit to carrying durable water containers instead of purchasing bottled water; to not using paper for printing unless necessary—and then requesting recycled [paper when it is necessary]; to requesting that products that come in containers be made of recycled material; and to replacing other disposable products with durable re-washable personal items; then we will have a much more significant impact overall,” she said.
Next fall, GSEAC will be evolving into campus-wide “Sustainability Committees” that will be formally recognized by the UMB administration. Student representatives from every school are being sought participate in this effort with the opportunity to influence campus-wide environmental and recycling policies. Interested students can contact Kelly Baker at kbake004@umaryland.edu.
Information on Campus Recycling:
Paper recycling: Newspapers, envelopes, and clean paper – including that which is colored, glossy, and staple-filled – should all be deposited into the paper recycling bins located throughout campus. The bins can be identified by their lack of a lid. Paper plates or cups with food residue on them should not be tossed into the bins.
Bottle and aluminum can recycling: The blue bins for bottle and can recyclables have lids with two holes on them to indicate that bottles and cans but not paper should go into them. All glass bottles that have not had a laboratory use are recyclable, as are all plastic bottles – particularly those with a grade of 1 or 2 notated on the bottom of them. All aluminum and tin cans -- such as those for soups or tuna fish – are recyclable.
Editor’s Note: This article was corrected to reflect the broad coalition of students and administrators who conceived and fostered the campus-wide recycling effort to fruition. While GSEAC assisted in this process, an earlier edition overstated their role in this effort.