Alex Burnette has a pile of recyclables in her dorm room. The sophomore Earth and Environmental Sciences major stashes plastic packaging and glass containers in a box until she goes home to Asheville to recycle them. Why go through all of this trouble? The items she collects are not recyclable at Furman.
Furman is known for its commitment to the environment. However, this reputation does not eliminate room for improvement. This is especially true when it comes to Furman’s recycling program. Students, faculty, and staff face a confusing system without any clear labeling or access if they want to recycle.
Odds are that the average student at Furman is willing to recycle, even if they may not make the extreme commitment to tote recyclables home. Even with one glance at the university’s obscurely labeled trash cans and dumpsters, however, it is no surprise that the laudable desire to recycle swiftly vanishes. Moreover, while every room receives a recycling bin at the beginning of the year, not every hall receives a communal hall recycling bin. Even if bins are provided on the hall they are rarely clearly discernable from regular trash cans.
In addition to inadequate labeling on recycling bins and an insufficient number of bins in certain residences, few students know what is actually recyclable at Furman. Only paperboard and plastics labeled one or two are accepted under Furman’s contract with Waste Management. Ironically, the plastic packaging used at the PDen does not fall under this category. With the university itself having unclear, contradictory priorities, how are students to blame when they have a lack of interest in recycling? This is precisely why the avid recyclers drop their contraband recyclables off at a place like Whole Foods or even carry them home.
One reason for such a confusing recycling program could be that the program does not have one unified policy-making committee. While Furman handles the recycling pick-up contract with Waste Management, the decision to put recycling bins and trashcans in every dorm room arose from a campaign by a separate organization called the Environmental Action Group. For this current academic year, every environmental group on campus is pushing for label reforms on trash cans and dumpsters. This is a necessary step for improving the campus recycling system, but shouldn’t such a massive labeling overhaul be supported by more than just environmental interest clubs and the Shi Center?
Furman has been listed by The Princeton Review as one of 332 “Green Colleges” in the United States, and for good reasons. Furman composts all of its food waste from the Dining Hall and houses the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified building in South Carolina. The university was one of the original signatories of the President’s Climate Commitment to reduce carbon emissions. Most recently, Furman earned a $50,000 grant to explore environmental issues afflicting China.
Obviously the university is committed to environmental stewardship both in the classroom and in its operations, but Furman cannot continue to be a green leader in higher education and in South Carolina by only relying on its previous accomplishments or by relinquishing environmental responsibility to smaller, divided groups without the administration at large being more involved. Something as simple as reforming a confusing recycling system is a good place for that involvement to start.
