U students dive in for recycling

Students at the University of Minnesota decided to make a big stink about the fact that only about one-third of recyclable materials from university buildings actually are recycled.

Star Tribune

Last update: February 4, 2009 - 8:52 PM

Students at the University of Minnesota decided to make a big stink Wednesday about the fact that only about one-third of recyclable materials from university buildings actually are recycled.

After a garbage truck dumped its full load in front of Coffman Union, student volunteers pounced on the pile -- about 10 feet tall by 20 feet wide -- and pulled out all of the material that could have been recycled but ended up in the trash instead.

The smelly demonstration was part of an effort to increase recycling on campus. Despite a quarter-century's worth of recycling efforts targeting newspapers, glass and plastic in university buildings, only about 32 percent of recyclable materials made it into the recycling stream in 2008, the university estimates.

"I've got to believe that everyone knows the environmental benefits of recycling," said Dana Donatucci, director of the university's recycling program. "If everyone gets involved, I know we can get to that goal of 50 percent."

The push to increase recycling is part of the campus-wide RecycleMania effort. RecycleMania is a national competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs. For more information on university recycling, visit www1.umn.edu/recycle/index.html.

PAUL WALSH

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