Since it seemed students would not go to the recycling bins, the
undergraduate student government decided to bring the recycling
bins to the students.
Starting spring quarter, these bins will be placed in every dorm
room in De Neve’s Evergreen and Fir buildings to promote
recycling among students.
A thousand trash-can-sized bins, funded by UCLA Housing
Administration, will be ordered this week as a result of the USAC
Facilities Commission’s efforts in the beginning of the
school year.
This new recycling program was created in response to the
failure of the current recycling situation, which consists of one
recycling bin on each floor, said Angela Cheung, sustainability
director of the Facilities Commission.
“A lot of people don’t even know their floor has a
recycling bin,” Cheung said. “The goal of putting bins
in the room is to make recycling more convenient for the
residents.”
E-mails were sent out to all dorm-building associations fall
quarter describing the program; Evergreen and Fir responded with
the greatest enthusiasm.
Since then, the Undergraduate Students Association Council, On
Campus Housing Council, and Evergreen and Fir Resident Director
Dayna Baker have worked out the details of how the program would
work.
Many residents are still unaware of this program; those who do
know of it look forward to this new addition in the room.
“There are so many times when I felt it was too cumbersome
to sort out the trash and the recyclable items and then walk all
the way down the hall each time,” said Paul Smithedajkul, a
first-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics
student.
Smithedajkul said he believes more people would recycle if they
had the opportunity.
In addition to the extra recycling bins, floor recycling chair
positions will be created and recycling contests and programs will
be initiated to further encourage recycling.
The recyclable items will be collected twice a week, once by
students and once by housekeeping.
Though the program will only apply to the two buildings, the
Facilities Commission hopes to work with OCHC to extend the program
to other dorms next year.
“This program is a trial to see how well this kind of
recycling program will work,” OCHC representative Betty Yee
said. “We’re expecting it to be very successful, so
hopefully this program can spread across the Hill.”
The realization of this program is a major stepping stone in
creating awareness on the Hill to the importance, as well as
simplicity, of recycling, Cheung said.
“Recycling is one of the easiest things people can do to
bring about change,” Cheung said.