Eco-friendly student organizations expressed happiness and surprise over the recently announced program to collect, shred and recycle papers on campus.
The university paired up with Secure On-Site Shredding (SOS) for the project, according to a global email sent early Tuesday.
“We’re very surprised that [President Ronald] Vaughn approved the bins because he’s always been against everything we have brought up,” said Tanya Brunner, the president of the Beta Beta Beta biological honors society. “It’s a step ahead. Hopefully it will inspire Vaughn to take it a step forward in the future.”
Students and administrators recently increased pressure on Vaughn to institute sustainability programs.
“I think that the school has had the wheels rolling behind the scenes for a while,” said Keil Brinster, an active student advocate for sustainability. “They have noted the work of many groups. They rushed the process, but it was in a positive way.”
In a letter to The Minaret last October, Director of Procurement Brian Sutton claimed that the university purchases 11.7 million sheets of paper each year. This quantity would reach farther than 2,000 miles, roughly the length of the U.S.’s eastern seaboard. Sutton is responsible for ordering a majority of the paper used on campus.
SOS will place 19 locked bins in 17 locations on campus, mainly centered around computer labs. The bins will accept office paper, Post-It notes, magazines and newsprint, according to the global email.
On April 25, the company will place a truck on campus to collect end-of-year waste papers from offices and residence hall rooms. This event, held on Arbor Day, will be cosponsored by UT, SOS, Beta Beta Beta and the Environmental Protection Coalition (EPC).
Sarah Nelson, the EPC president, is thrilled to help with the event.
“We’re happy the school has finally decided to recycle,” she said. “We are excited to be able to educate UT students on the benefits of recycling.”
Students in the computer lab were receptive to the idea of recycling, following a motto that if it were there, they’d do it.
“I would recycle more because it would be like, ‘Alright here’s a recycle bin’ instead of having to look for somewhere to recycle,” said senior Anieka Williams.
Danielle Smith echoed the sentiment.
“I probably would recycle if it was there,” she said. “It’s not good that we waste as much paper as we do. People might take more incentive instead of being as wasteful as we can be at times.”
SOS will collect the paper in the bins bi-weekly, shred them on campus, and send them to a recycling contractor. Recycled paper will be turned into paper products, animal bedding and building materials, according to the company’s website.
The bins can recycle only paper, however, and any contaminant will ruin the entire load of shredded products. The SOS website says that a contaminated load will cost the buyer (the university), $75 plus the cost of using a landfill.
Despite the potential for contamination, many students still saw the project as a good stepping-stone to bigger recycling programs.
“I feel this step is commendatory to Dr. Vaughn,” said Brinster. “I hope students take this seriously as a positive step forward. This is the first visual thing they’ve done, and it all adds up.”
SHREDDING COLLECTION BIN LOCATIONS — Library computer lab — Library administrative offices — Vaughn computer lab — Vaughn student activities office — Jaeb Computer Center — Sykes computer lab — Sykes faculty workroom — Sykes graduate studies office — Plant elevator landings on each floor — Plant Hall, Financial Aid office — Riverside second floor — Cass Annex, faculty offices — Cass building graphics lab — Cass building, faculty office area