Walking through the Quad en route to class, it would be hard not to notice 10 big blue bins sitting next to the garbage cans.
Those bins are just part of the 24 new recycling bins on campus collecting glass, plastic and aluminum. There also are 1,500 recycled cardboard boxes in classrooms collecting newspaper, card stock, office paper, magazines and computer printouts.
The idea for “LSU Recycles” originated as a campaign promise from former Student Government President Patrick McCune. He redirected $1 of the $6 Spring Sports Fee to implementing a full-scale recycling program in residence halls and on campus.
A total of $24,000 was raised from the fee, half of which went to residence halls and half into buying 24 blue bins, 1,500 paper bins and 1,500 desk side paper bins, said Kayla Bourg, a women’s and gender studies senior and member of the Student Environmental Action Coalition.
SG President Allen Richey worked with Facility Services and Landscape Services during the summer to get the bins in place.
The plastic bins are placed in high-traffic areas, instead of having them next to each of the 220 outdoor trash cans, said Victoria Porter, Facility Services solid waste and recycle manager.
Daniel Leonard, an ISDS sophomore, said since the bins are placed next to trash cans people will notice and use them more as opposed to having them standing on their own.
The bins have been in place for the last six weeks, and Porter said the idea has been well-supported by students attending summer school and expects the program to be well-received in the fall as well.
Kristin Harper, an English freshman, said she already has begun throwing away her cans in the bins and said if people notice the bins, she thinks they will use them.
Some students, however, are not as optimistic about the program.
Lien Pham, an accounting junior, said she noticed the bins in the Quad but does not think people are “environmentally friendly” enough to recycle.
“They’ll probably throw trash in them,” Pham said. “It’s good that they’re making an effort even though it won’t work.”
Nevertheless, the new SG administration has been waiting for the recycling program, Richey said.
Richey said LSU Recycles will be effective only if students support the project and if recycling becomes a part of the campus. Richey’s main goal is to maintain and keep the program functional so recycling is something easily accessible for students.
Richey said they decided on the bright blue bins instead of purple or gold so they stand out more and increase awareness.
“It catches people’s eyes when they see a big blue bin,” he said.
Richey said he made the recycling issue part of his platform because the money already had been raised in the past for the program, but the practical aspects of the project were not completed.
Bourg also is a Landscape Services student worker and currently collects and sorts all of the recycled materials, Porter said.
The money generated from recycling aluminum cans will go back to Facility Services, the University department paying for LSU Recycles. The money will be used to help finance the recycling program and trash pickup, said Fred Fellner, assistant director of Facility Services.
“We’re just trying to do the right thing,” Fellner said.
However, the program is not free from flaws. Right now, the main concern is making sure the collection continues.
Since Bourg is a student worker, the University does not have to give her benefits or pay her as much as they would pay a full-time worker, Bourg said.
“We have to find out where the money [to pay for a full- time person] is going to come from,” Richey said.
Porter, Bourg’s supervisor, presented her director with a proposal for hiring a permanent full-time collector, but Richey is preparing a plan to raise funds if the proposal falls through.
“We’re going to have to shuffle resources, but the program is necessary,” Richey said. “It’s not a huge burden.”
He said he has seen too many good ideas that have fallen through in the past, but this project is too important to fall behind.
“We need to create a culture of awareness with our global limited resources,” Richey said. “Locally, we can redirect the amount of trash we produce. We need to be good stewards of the earth.”
Facility Services also is working with the Air Force ROTC to distribute and collect 1,000 18-gallon green residential recycling bins in tailgate areas before games, Porter said.
LSU game days generate an approximate 18 tons of garbage each game and about 466 man hours and $7,000 are used to clean up the campus and stadium after a game, Porter said in a press release.
“LSU needs to begin a serious recycling effort for football games because it is the right thing to do for the environment, saves money and projects the proper educational position for the citizens of the state to emulate,” Fellner said in a press release.