Dumpster diving, welcome to my skills. Last Thursday at 2:00pm, the crew leaders kicked off some earth day celebrations by collecting 280 pounds of garbage from the student union dumpster. After loading the trash into our WCC trucks, we took it to the university's physical plant for some sorting. The University of Wyoming student union is blessed with an extensive array sorting bins so that it is crystal clear where to put what refuse. The paper bin even has a narrow slot so that only paper should fit in. Generally, people don't put trash in the recycling, but they certainly feel free to put their recycling in the trash-THIS IS RIDICULOUS! So, after weighing all of our sloppy food covered bags, we tore them open and began to remove recyclables. We pulled our about 40 pounds of 'resonable' recycling. By that I mean that the bottles/plastics/and papers were clean enough to be recycled. If you think about 40 pounds of plastics and papers, that really is quite a quantity. Also in consideration were the heaps and heaps of food in the trash that could have been composted if the union had that available. We were particularly perturbed by the university catering services compostable cups that wound up in the trash instead of the recycling. Additionally, with only a 5% margin for error at the recycling plant, it is critical that people don't put trash in bottles and remove lids, which actually aren't recyclable.
The next day, we made our way to the salvage yard in Laramie. After spending about an hour sifting through scrap metal in the freezing cold, we had gathered enough materials to construct a gigantic sage grouse. For those of you not from the west, the sage grouse is a very strange looking chicken-type creature that is now protected in 'core areas' in Wyoming so that it is not listed on the federal endangered species list. Our goal, is to create the frame of a gigantic sage grouse to put in the center of campus on earth day that students can fill with recyclables that our campus actually recycles. (Hint-you should all google the sage grouse). My real point here is that we can all do a little bit better at being effective recyclers. I know many people who think that recycling really doesn't matter, but is there anyone who can't spare quite literally 10 seconds to make sure their product gets put in the correct bin. Take a little time and make a little change to your routine...Because lots of little changes make one big difference.
Happy Earth Week!
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