Amanda Hinson

CU 101 001

November, 20 2000

The More Sustainable University

Making A More Sustainable University for Today and the Future

Schools and universities can be made more sustainable just by doing simple things each day. Some things that I did to make my lifestyle more sustainable were washing full loads of clothes each time I did laundry and turning the water off while brushing my teeth, thus saving water through both of these habits. My major and most challenging project in specifically making Clemson University more sustainable was establishing a recycling area in my dorm. I simply challenged my entire dorm to recycle not only their aluminum cans but also their paper and plastic. Mr. Andy Anderson was generous enough to provide the recycling bins for this project. The bins were located on the second floor and available for everyone in the dorm to use. Also, signs were placed throughout the dorm to promote recycling. I estimate that my dorm recycled about one large recycling bin full of materials a week.

Recycling has so many advantages that help people live a much more comfortable and safe life. Recycling saves energy, conserves valuable resources, and decreases the amount of garbage being sent to the landfill. Also, making products from recycled materials creates less air and water pollution than making products from virgin materials. According to the Residential Recycling Factoids website, the recycling process helps people in society in such a way that it creates far more jobs than landfills or incinerator centers, and recycling is most often the least expensive waste management treatment method for cities and towns. This fact represents how both individual people and a city benefit not only by protecting the environment, but also by saving money. Each month of maximum recycling participation, an average (100 unit) apartment will have the following positive impact on the environment: Save 21.93 thirty foot trees, saves 8,389 kilowatts of electricity, saves 26.86 cubic yards of landfill space, and reduce 77.4 pounds of air pollution. If one apartment has an impact this large, imagine what would be saved if everyone played a part in maximum recycling. We really do put ourselves in danger when we carelessly use our natural resources. In prehistoric times, forests covered 60% of the Earth's surface. Today that amount has been reduced by 30% and still continues to shrink. It is so important that we are cautious of the paper wasted. Our public landfills are composed of 36% waste paper products. Although much is wasted in America, the idea of recycling and its importance is beginning to catch on to people around the world. Each minute 113,201 cans are recycled. I was very surprised to learn that so much recycling was taking place. My goal through this project was to make people more aware of the environment and university they belong to and the importance of protecting it. I feel that this project was a major success. This project taught me a lot and showed me how people are willing to pull together to make a positive difference.

Bibliography

Recycling-Recoverable Resources-Aluminum. Online. Environmental Systems of America, Inc. Available: http://envirosystemsinc.com/aluminum.html. Accessed. 26 October 2000.

Recycling Howís and Whyís. Online. Enviromental Systems of America, Inc. Available: http://envirosystemsinc.com/howsandwhys.html. Accessed. 26 October 2000.

Residential Recycling Factoids. Online. Available: http://envirosystemsinc.com/resrec.html. Accessed. 26 October 2000.

Paper Factoids. Online. Available: http://envirosystemsinc.com/paperfac.html. Accessed. 26 October 2000.