Heather Canapary put on her sunglasses, adjusted her green tree costume and attempted to persuade students passing Allen Hall to trade their disposable cups for reusable ones. On a day when most people wore shorts, she spent more than two hours in a green quilt.
But Canapary, an environmental studies major, said it was all in a day’s work for a member of the University’s Campus Recycling Program.
Campus Recycling launched its “Reduce Reuse Refill” campaign last week, culminating on Earth Day with an information booth in the EMU Amphitheater and, of course, the gift-giving trees.
Canapary said the goal of the campaign was to alert the University that cups are not recyclable and should be thrown away. Compostable, recyclable cups cost approximately three times more than the disposable cups used on campus.
“People would throw them in paper recycling, which not only is not recyclable and we have to pull it out, but it contaminates our paper,” she said.
The tree idea had been used successfully in the past, she said, and people seemed to enjoy getting recycling information and prizes, like key chains and T-shirts that read “Cups are Trash!,” from people dressed up as trees.
“People have been mistaking me for a recycling dinosaur, but it’s all right,” she said, laughing.
Campus Recycling Program Manager Karyn Kaplan said the campaign goal was simple: Use reusable cups.
“That is one simple thing people can do to make a huge difference and lessen their impact,” Kaplan said. “We want to makr conservation the rule and waste the exception.”
By educating students about using reusable cups, Campus Recycling hopes students will adopt other environmentally-friendly practices such as reducing paper use and carpooling to class.
“By planting that seed, it grows a garden,” she said.
Kaplan estimated Campus Recycling and EMU Food Services had given away 1,000 reusable cups during Earth Week. She said they wanted to get reusable cups in people’s hands because it would save money for everyone involved in addition to being environmentally sound.
“We get revenue for our recyclables,” Kaplan said, “and when you put a contaminant in there that contaminates the rest of the recycling, that costs us money and impacts the program.”
Kaplan estimated students who buy a daily drink and switch to reusable cups would save about $40 a school year because of the EMU Food Services discount, which offers students 25 cents off the price of any drink purchased at an EMU food outlet when they bring their own cup. The offer is valid year-round.
But several campus cafes said students aren’t taking advantage of the discount and others may not be aware of it.
Karlin Johnson, a student employee of The Duck Stop! cafe in the University Bookstore, said about two of every 10 people buying drinks have their own cup. These two, Johnson said, are usually faculty.
Employees at the EMU’s Buzz coffeehouse said only 10 people bring their own cups in a typical five-hour shift.
The campaign was inspired, in part, by a 2003 study conducted by the Environmental Studies Service Learning Program. The report analyzed the waste the EMU received in a single week.
According to the study, 26 percent of the week’s waste consisted of disposable cups and lids, weighing more than 80 pounds. None of the cups were recyclable.
Although the report is three years old, EMU Food Services Director John Costello said he believes it is still an accurate portrayal of campus waste.
“I doubt if things have changed substantially in the last few years,” he said.
Costello, who also took part in the recycling campaign, said the study showed 10,000 cups were thrown away every week in the EMU.
“We want to push the concept of the reusable mugs,” he said. “Our goal is to get the use of these on campus up to really, really huge numbers.”
He also agreed students looking to save a buck would benefit from a reusable cup and the discount.
“It’s quite a savings for people that have three or four beverages a day,” he said. “If nothing else, you can save yourself money.”
The EMU Food Services also helped give away reusable mugs on campus, he said. The Allan Bros. Coffee Co. and the Pepsi Corp. each made a $1,000 donation, helping to purchase 500 refillable mugs.
In addition to Campus Recycling’s campaign, Costello is also helping the University reduce its waste by making compost.
The Earth Tub, a device that spins and cooks waste like coffee grounds and food without animal fat, is used to make waste into compost. The compost is later used on campus grounds.
Costello said since the 2003 study, restaurants in the EMU food court have become much more conscious of waste with the exception of Panda Express, who use “the lowest grade recyclables.”
Costello has been in contact with Panda Express’ corporate headquarters about implementing washable plates and utensils.
Kevin Lee, manager of the EMU Panda Express, said local employees aren’t responsible for what cups and plates the restaurant uses. He also said he and Costello are arranging to have all leftover vegetables be donated to the Earth Tub.
Campus Recycling’s campaign comes in the wake of the program receiving a prestigious award for paper recycling.
The American Forest and Paper Association gave the Oregon Recycling Program the 2006 School Recycling Award.
The association said Oregon’s program had recovered more than 9,000 tons of paper, resulting in an estimated savings of $2 million. In addition, it said, the program’s “extensive outreach programs” have raised community awareness about paper recycling.
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