If you walk around the campus long enough, you start to notice that there are much more trash bins than there are recycling bins which can be a problem.
It can lead students to the idea that it is easier to throw away recyclable material into the trash instead of recycling it, and the amount of both trash and recycling pickups made by custodians that are already understaffed.
A way to ease those problems is to openly welcome and allow third parties or individuals to pick up recyclable waste. We see people come onto campus often, rummaging through the bins and picking up the various bottles of glass or plastic we throw away.
The campus and the environment benefits from these individuals and their actions. After going through what they can get from the recycling bins, these individuals will also go through the trash bins to find the recyclable material some students and faculty members thoughtlessly throw away as trash.
The acts of these individuals ensure that the proper material go to either the landfill or the recycling plant. The benefit these people get is the money they receive at the recycling plant for the material they turn in.
Until Pierce makes more of a push towards a sustainable model by providing more recycling bins, a comprehensive campus wide program, or hire more custodians to deal with our waste and recycling needs, we need to rely on other methods and parties to ease the campus’ waste issues.