Recycling is just about the coolest thing any college student can do. Like, totally. No, seriously it is! When you really start to think about it, it's amazing how many college campuses are deciding to make efforts toward sustainability. I have yet to walk on a college campus and not see those lovely bins full of plastic bottles and piles of computer paper. Recently, the University of Northern Iowa invested in BigBelly Compactors and Recyclers, which are self-powered receptacles utilizing solar energy. The best part? BigBelly compactors can operate for an entire week on the energy equivalence of brewing one cup of coffee. A solar compactor within the receptacle senses when the bins are full and communicates this information back to a command center, thus eliminating crews making unnecessary trips to empty the compactor.
Speaking of recycling, the whole idea is relatively new to me, crazy as that may sound. Growing up in a small town and on a farm in the country, my family was not a recycling one. What we had was called a "burning barrel"-an old metal barrel which served as a collect-all for all our trash and also any recyclable materials. Cardboard boxes? Put it in the burning barrel. Plastic bottles? Yep, the burning barrel. The only thing that didn't find an eternal home as ashes in the barrel was soda cans and bottles; you get paid to recycle those! I've always been a little bit ignorant about which materials can be recycled and where to take them. The little never-ending recycling triangle on the bottom of plastics finally has meaning for me! If you still aren't sure how/what to recycle, (don't be embarrassed I didn't know either!) check out this link for helpful tips: Recycling Tips.
Returning to my original point about how cool recycling is, I actually really believe it is a strong value for today's students. College students seem to be very concerned about their own personal impact on the environment which is definitely an admirable quality for young people. You can walk around high schools and college campuses and typically discern who your jocks, cheerleaders, popular kids and nerds are. Adding to the cliques and groups are the "greens," or so to speak. It really is cool to be green and that means being socially responsible as well. Students tote book bags with solar battery chargers, proudly display their TOMS shoes and choose to bike rather than drive. If you don't believe students are changing their attitudes or identifying as "green," check out this funny clip from "21 Jump Street." If that isn't proof, I don't know what is.
-Scotti
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