Web-Workspace

WHY RECYCLE?

'Q-This section seems really good to me, in terms of amount of information. I wonder, though, if it is too much, and we should be more selective on what we share? Or perhaps have a main site and alternative links to find out more, as int he different kinds of recycling? Also, parts of the section need to be formatted as it will appear on the web page S.H.'

Comment: It does seem like this might be an overwhelming amount of text...I agree with Scott's idea to incorporate a series of links (perhaps to each topic?) from a main page. Also, I assume there are citations for this information that we need to insert--or shall we just link over to the website that provided this info? MMS

The little why: to save resources, to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills, and to conserve energy used to refine raw materials. Another reason is that recycling benefits Earlham and the city of Richmond financially. Earlham is charged for the trash it sends to the landfill, so not having as much trash to haul saves the college money. Also, Earlham is monetarily compensated for its bales of recycled corrugated cardboard; and, the city is compensated for recycled bales of plastic and for loads of glass, aluminum and other metals that are recycled by the Richmond Sanitary Department.

The BIG why - to love life enough to save it. The following quotes are taken from Kellert, Stephen; Wilson, Edward O. (The Biophilia Hypothesis, Island Press/Shearwater, Washington D.C.: 1993)

   We need to transform the way we use the earth's endowment of land,
   minerals, water, air, wildlife, and fuels:  an efficiency revolution which 
   buys us some time.  Beyond efficiency, we need another revolution that 
   transforms our ideas of what it means to live decently and how little is 
   actually necessary for a decent life:  a sufficiency revolution...  

(optional continuation)

   The first revolution is mostly about technology and economics.  The second 
   revoloution is about morality and human purpose.  The biophilia revolution 
   is about the combination of reverence for life and purely rational 
   calculation by which we will want to be both efficient and live 
   sufficiently.  It is about finding our rightful place on earth and in the 
   community of life; it is about citizenship, duties, obligations, and   
   celebration... 

Q-I like the first two paragraphs from Wilson, but the third one doesn't seem as directly relevant to me (and the quotation goes on a bit long). S.H.

   ...Patriotism, the name we give to the love of one's country, must be 
   redefined to include those things which contribute to the real health, 
   beauty, and ecological stability of our home places and to exclude those  
   which do not.  Patriotism as biophilia requires that we decide to rejoin 
   the idea of love of one's country to how well one uses the country.  To 
   destroy forests, soils, natural beauty, and wildlife in order to swell the
   gross national product, or to provide short'term and often spurious jobs, 
   is not partiotism but greed.  Real patriotism demands that we weave the 
   competent, patient, and disciplined love of our land into our political 
   life and our political institutions.  The laws of ecology and those of 
   thermodynamics, which mostly have to do with limits, must become the 
   foundation for a new politics... 

The type of informational facts we need to present is already available at the following website:

[http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/FACTS/Benefits.htm

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We might want to personalize our own website to contain the same types of information, only for Indiana. A couple of facts presented in the Richmond Sanitary District Recycling Program flyer:

   Every day, an average American produces and throws away about 4 or 5 pounds
   of waste.  In a city like Richmond, this means over 200,000 pounds (100
   tons) of waste must be disposed of every day.  Richmond's waste is 
   currently being buried in the New Paris Pike Landfill, but this landfill 
   will not last forever.  To locate and construct a new landfill will take 
   considerable time and money, so why not make the one we have last longer? 
   We can and will, with the help of recycling!

Some Indiana trends and statistics can be found at the following website:

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RECYCLING INFORMATION ON CAMPUS (WHAT TO RECYCLE)

WHAT TO RECYCLE The following items can be recycled at Earlham:

• Plastics #1 and #2 (look at bottom of container and the number inside the triangle to determine a #1 or #2)
• Aluminum Cans
• Glass
• Office paper
• Newspaper
• Corrugated Cardboard
• Lead/acid Batteries
• Scrap metal
• Old electronics/computers
• Old Cell phones and ink cartridges

this is a new page

The following items can be recycled outside Earlham: 1. Plastics #3-#7? see below ... 2. Plastic shopping bags? collected in containers at Wal-mart ... see also below 3. Thin cardboard? recycling facilities in Oxford, Ohio accept thin cardboard mingled with all forms of paper ... see also below

The closest paperboard (non-corrugated cardboard) recycling facility is East Central Recycling, 701, East Centennial, Muncie, In (765) 282-1900 Jason King of East Central Recycling roughly estimated a Richmond pick-up charge of $120/bale. They would pay $20/ton for baled paperboard and would be willing to supply a box compactor that creates bales with minimal baling labor and no baling wire. Buck is the Sales Rep.

East Central Recycling also buys baled corrugated cardboard, but Earlham is committed to recycling this material as well as office paper, newspaper, and plastics 1 & 2 through Richmond Sanitary Recycling.

A local facility that accepts bales of clean plastics, sorted by numbers 1 through 7, is My Way Trading, located at 308 NW "F" Street, Richmond, In. They've been in business here in Richmond for about 4 years and have been doing this for about 17 years total in other locations such as New Paris,Ohio.

Bo Mattix of My Way Trading says we could bale our #3 - #7 plastics, as long as they're clean, by placing a layer of cardboard at the bottom of the type of container we presently collect cardboard in, and another layer of cardboard at the top of a plastics load, then smash it with the cardboard baler, strap it, wrap it with shrink wrap, and place it on a skid. They would also take bales composed entirely of plastic shopping bags. The following quoted procedure was supplied by Bo:

   On the plastic scrap it can be of mixed materials in bales from a baler,
   as we spoke of earlier on pallets. Containers would need to be rinsed out.
   What you can not have is any containers that had any chemicals in them( no
   cross bones) or anything over a #1 Hazmat. No trash, like paper cups or
   fast food products. Now we do work with Recycling Center and get plastic
   scrap from them, so keep the program with them and we can call them to let
   them know its ok to do and to add it to a load we get from them. They are
   more capable of handling and storing this. Just let me know if this is
   something you want to do and we'll let them know. If any questions feel
   free to call. Thanks,
   Bo Mattix  mywaytrading@myvine.com

Again, Earlham is committed to recycling plastics 1 & 2 through Richmond Sanitary Recycling.

HOW TO RECYCLE

(note: upon receiving the grant we will want to include descriptions of the recycling bins-color, shape, size, etc. familiarize the information below)

Office paper, newspaper, corrugated cardboard can be put directly in the appropriate bin and does not need to be shredded or otherwise cut. Office paper should have staples and tape removed, and glossy paper should be seperated and cannot be recycled with office paper. Corrugated cardboard boxes should be flattened before being placed in a bin.

Glass bottles, aluminum cans, and plastics #1 and #2 should be washed out if they are very dirty but otherwise can be placed directly in the blue comingle bins as is.

There are a number of locations on campus to recycle the items listed in the previous section:

• 1. Residence Halls (dorms) - On every floor of every residence hall you should find bins for:
  • 1) office paper
  • 2) co-mingled items (plastic #1 and #2, aluminum cans and glass bottles)

On one floor of each residence hall (almost always on the first floor) there should be a bin for newspaper. Students only have the responsibility of placing the proper items in the appropriate bins. Work-study students in charge of Recycling will come to empty bins on the hall each week. Contact xxx if your halls’ bin needs emptying.

• 2. College Houses - In every college house there should be a big blue bin with a circle cut-out in the lid for both co-mingled items (see above) and office paper. College Houses should be recycling by bringing their bin out to the street for regular city pick-up as arranged by their AD. Contact:
• 3. Academic/Administrative Buildings - On each floor of academic/administrative buildings you should find the following recycling bins:
  • 1) Tall, Blue, closed-top, co-mingled bin (for plastics #1 and #2, aluminum cans and glass bottles)
  • 2) Small, open-top red bin: office paper

The current placement of these is sporadic. At the very least, most department offices have a red bin located near the copy machine. Blue co-mingled bins tend to be located in the hall for greater access to students and professors/administrators/staff.

• 4. Runyan Center (student center) - Runyan Center has the following bins for recycling:
  • 1) Tall Blue bin for Newspaper only
  • 2) Tall Blue bin for Magazines only
  • 3) Tall Blue bin for office paper
  • 4) Tall Blue bin for Co-mingled items (for plastics #1 and #2, aluminum cans and glass bottles)
• 5. Outdoors - Currently there are no outdoor receptacles for recycling.
• 6. At Certain Events
• 7. Maintenance - The following items can be brought to Maintenance (located across from the side entrance to Hoerner and behind the Wellness center):
  • 1) scrap metal-location?
  • 2) corrugated cardboard- a dumpster is located between the back of maintenance and the big yellow equipment shed.
  • 3) old electronics/computers-location?
  • 4) lead/acid batteries-location?
  • 5) ink cartridges/cell phone batteries-location?

WHERE TO RECYCLE

Newspaper bins are in the lobbies of all dormitory buildings Look for blue recycling bins (for glass, plastics 1 & 2 ONLY, office paper, aluminum cans, steel cans) on each floor of Earlham dormitories and in academic buildings

DROP-OFF RECYCLING INFORMATION IN THE RICHMOND AREA

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This is a great resource from the Wayne County soil and water conservation district. In it they include a complete page of drop-off recycling facilities and information about curbside recycling in Richmond/Wayne County.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT RECYCLING

Q-I imagine we should get our heads together, to generate more questions. S.H.

1. What happens when trash is put in recycling bins (or some other way to address contamination)? 2. Can I recycle all types of cardboard at Earlham? 3. Maybe the same sort of question about plastics??

COMPOSTING AT EARLHAM

WHO SHOULD I CONTACT IF MY COMPOST IS NOT BEING PICKED UP? Contact: Dan Horowitz (horowda@earlham.edu)

WHERE CAN I COMPOST: 1. In the dining hall: Next to the trash bins where trays are also brought, there is a separate can for compostable items. 2. All college houses have one five gallon compost bucket. 3. Clear Creek Food Co-op: Inside the co-op there is a bucket for waste generated from daily lunches, as well as a large trash can outside of the co-op, on the Barrett side.

WHAT CAN I COMPOST: 1. All food except meat and dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.)

WHERE DOES THE COMPOST GO and HOW DOES IT GET THERE? All compost generated at Earlham goes out to Miller Farm. Miller Farm is a college-owned, student-run farm located on Abington Pike. For more info go to http://www.millerfarm.org Two to three student workers are hired each semester on a work-study basis to transport the compost out to the farm. Bikes are used to carry the compost out on a regular basis depending on pick-up location. The compost is then used on gardens maintained by the residents of Miller Farm throughout the growing season.

WHY DOES EARLHAM COMPOST?

We compost to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill and to benefit the student-run agriculture program based at Miller Farm. Food waste that goes out to Miller Farm would otherwise go with the rest of trash to the Richmond landfill. By composting, over time, we significantly reduce the amount of waste we produce. And, the soil at Miller Farm is enriched by the application of the compost.

HOW IS THE COMPOST USED AT MILLER FARM?

Compost is brought from the dining hall and put in a pile where it begins to decompose. Successive loads of compost result in a mass of ‘organic matter’ which generates heat via the decomposition process. A variety of organisms (aerobic bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes and macroorgamisms such as earthworms)consume the nutrients available in leftover food and help to produce 'humus.' Humus-a soil-like substance-is incorporated into the soil and improves soil structure, increases moisture retention, and increases the availability of nutrients and minerals for plant growth. Residents of Miller Farm manage the compost piles and use the humus after spring tillage to add organic matter to the soil. The compost is applied when necessary during the growing season to strengthen soil balance and prevent pest and disease spread. It is sometimes used again after fall harvest and before a winter cover crop is sown to build soil quality over the winter.

For more information on compost and composting go to: <www.cfe.cornell.edu/wmi/Composting.html>, <css.wsu.edu/compost/>

CONTACTS

Director of Facilities: Glen Haywood (haywogl@earlham.edu) x1678
contact regarding comingled pickup, and drop-off of other recyclables on campus

Housekeeping Director: Bruce Dodds (doddsbr@earlham.edu), x1854
contact regarding office paper recycling pickup, summer pickup of comingled

Environmental Responsibility Committee:
contact regarding policies, planning, and campus oversight

• Scott Hess, Convenor (hesssc@earlham.edu)
• Glen Haywood
• Katie Delbecq
• Rick Foreman
• Nancy Jackson
• Ben Jaffe
• Christine Larson
• Jennifer Lewis
• Charlie Peck (sabbatical, 2006-2007)
• Meg Streepey

Earlham Environmental Action Coalition (http://www.earlham.edu/~eeac/)
contact regarding student initiatives and participation in recycling programs

Earlham Energy Awareness Project (http://eeap.cs.earlham.edu/)
contact regarding tracking energy use in campus houses

Miller Farm (http://www.millerfarm.org/wiki/Main_Page) x2982
contact regarding composting

MAINTENANCE BUILDING HOURS
8:00am -4:00pm M-F
contact regarding recycling drop-off for cardboard, batteries, and scrap metal what else can be dropped off here?? - CL

CURRENT RECYCLING POLICIES

File:Recycling policies.pdf