Council considers recycling requirements for first-years

Author: Holly O'Donnell

On March 17, the Community Council voted in favor of approving a motion to recommend to the President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz that students be required to spend at least one hour working, learning or spending time at the recycling center during their first year at the College.

The motion, proposed by co-chair Eric Hoest '08, was created in response to several discussions regarding recycling and waste issues on campus.

The topics of discussion at the meeting included the removal of dishes from the dining halls, the issue of "to-go" cups, the large amount of waste created by move-out in the spring and how to help people learn how to recycle better.

Many of the issues discussed at the meeting came down to an educational issue. If people were more aware of where the trash went and how the recycling facility works, Council members argued, they would hopefully change their behavior.

The committee decided that creating a community in which individuals are more aware of the consequences of their actions would help alleviate many of the issues discussed.

Dean of the College Tim Spears saw working in the recycling facility as an "educational opportunity to help students better understand what happens to the things they use."

Students taking dishes from the dining hall and not returning them has been a long-standing issue at Middlebury. Each year, a significant number of dishes are taken from the dining hall and not returned, proving costly to the Dining Services' budget.

Dishes that are returned to the dining halls may often be too dirty to be completely cleaned and must be thrown out.

The suggestion was made to get "to-go" cartons for the dining hall, so that when students take food, at least they are throwing away something that is designed to be thrown away.

It was also suggested that the dining hall provide students with disposable cups for their coffee and tea like the ones at the Juice Bar.

The problem with both of these suggestions is that "food costs would literally go out the door," according to Council member and Juice Bar Barista Michael Glidden. "To-Go" containers invite people to extra take food out the dining halls, which would lead to people taking more than need and eat while in the dining halls, Glidden argued.

Additionally, all the added food waste would be put in a trashcan rather than in the composting bins in the dining hall.

The rush of move-out in the spring leads to extreme amounts of waste. Many students do not figure out how to make use of their unwanted goods and end up throwing them in the trash.

Many items of value such as chairs and refrigerators get trashed in the hurried process. As one Community Council member pointed out, it is easier and quicker to throw things down the stairs than it is to carefully carry everything.

The Council discussed suggestions for making better use of students' unwanted stuff. One suggestion was to have a student-run business that buys the items from students and re-sells the items in the fall.

Another suggestion was to find a way to increase storage space on campus so that it is easier for underclassmen to store unwanted accessories over the summer.

Lastly, it was suggested to hire a student worker to make a film of what goes on during senior week to increase awareness regarding the amount of the waste created.

All around, Community Council members seemed to agree that increasing awareness among students about waste, recycling and its impact on the environment seemed like a logical idea that would lead to positive outcomes for the College community.