Cover Sheet
University of Idaho Sustainability Center Project proposal
Date Submitted: June 9, 2013
Project Title: English 317 Assignment 4
Student Leader: Andy Newland
Student E-Mail Address: newl4941@vandals.uidaho.edu
Major, College, Level in School, and Expected Graduation Date: Exercise Science,
University of Idaho, Senior, June 2013
Project Date: June 9, 2013
Amount Requested: $865
Project Synopsis:
This project entails a collaborative effort by University of Idaho fraternities to recycle their
aluminum cans. This will be achieved by distributing recycling bins to each fraternity and an
organized pick-up and drop off of the aluminum cans. The advantages of this project are that it is
very easy and inexpensive to start and will pay for itself in the future.
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Project Goals and Activities
The goal of this project is to recycle aluminum beer cans in fraternities. There are 17 housed
fraternities at the University of Idaho, and these Greek houses go through thousands of beer cans
each school year. While many of these fraternities support recycling, there is very little
organization in regards to recycling empty beer cans. Currently, many fraternities have a
recycling chair in which the person is responsible to pick up beer cans after parties and turn them
in for cash. Knowing from experience this very rarely occurs and only a fraction of the empty
beer cans available are recycled. This project is aiming to put recycle bins on every floor of
every fraternity. Each week there will be an organized pickup of these recycled aluminum cans.
When the aluminum cans are picked up they will be weighed and a running total of the amount
recycled will be kept for each fraternity. The fraternity that has recycled the most cans at the end
of the year will be rewarded with a cash prize.
This project will advance campus sustainability by making a recycling a campus wide issue and
not just a house to house issue. When individual fraternity houses are left in charge of recycling
then the issue is often neglected. In most houses beer cans are thrown away with other garbage
and no one is willing to sort through trash for recyclable cans. By putting University funded
recycle bins next to each trash bin, it will be much easier and likely that individuals will recycle.
A survey from Earth911 said that the number one reason people don’t recycle is convenience.
The vast majority of people support recycling, and if there is a blue bin nearby they will recycle
their trash rather than throw it away. However, the vast majority of people are not willing to go
out and search for a blue bin to recycle if there is a trash can nearby. Putting recycle bins on each
floor of a fraternity will reduce the claim that it is inconvenient to recycle.
According to National Geographic 3.4 million tons of aluminum that enter the municipal solid
waste stream is from beer cans and soft drink cans, more than any other component. There are
many benefits to recycling aluminum, and the biggest is reducing energy. It takes 95% less
energy and uses 95% less greenhouse gas emissions to reuse recycled aluminum compared to
producing new cans (National Geographic). Another benefit to recycling aluminum is that
aluminum is infinitely recyclable (National Geographic). This means that one recycled beer can
be used indefinitely over and over again. In fact, of the 1 billion tons of aluminum ever
produced, 75% is still in use (National Geographic). These are reasons that show this is a project
that can advance campus sustainability for years to come.
The project staffing and activities are fairly straightforward. Once recycle bins are placed in the
fraternities there will need to be one person in charge of picking up the bins on a weekly or biweekly basis. There will also need to be a person in charge of weighing the bins from each
fraternity and keeping a running total to give out in of year prizes.
Project Outcome
The project outcomes are based on several estimations that will be described below.
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There is an average of 34 members living in each fraternity house. I am estimating that each
member will drink 25 beers or soda pops a week. However, it is unlikely that every single one of
the cans drank will be recycled, so I am estimating that of the 25 empty cans, 20 will be recycled.
It takes 28 cans to equal 1 pound of aluminum. Therefore, each member of a fraternity would
recycle approximately three quarters of a pound a week. Using these numbers I calculated that
approximately 400 pounds of aluminum could be recycled each week by the all the fraternities.
Multiplying the 400 pounds per week by 15 weeks in a semester gives you 6,000 pounds of
aluminum recycled per semester. This is a substantial amount of aluminum that the University of
Idaho could be recycling each semester.
The long-term environmental effects of this project are that the University of Idaho would be
reducing the size of its carbon footprint. The University will be reducing the amount of energy
and greenhouse gasses that our required to make aluminum cans from scratch. Socially the
University will be able to promote this as one of the many ways they are trying to help the world
and reduce waste. Many people are becoming more and more aware of these “green issues” and
this is one way that the U of I can say they have taken steps to reduce waste around campus.
There is also an economic benefit to recycling aluminum and it will be discussed in further detail
below.
Outreach Approach
For this project to be successful it is critical that all fraternities buy into it. This will require
going to each individual one and explaining the reasoning behind the recycling bins. To provide
incentive for fraternities to participate there will be cash prizes to those fraternities that recycle
the most throughout the year. These cash prizes will come out of the money that is received from
the recycled aluminum cans. Flyers will be posted at fraternities to emphasize recycling
aluminum cans.
Participation and Support
Currently I am the only member on this project. I will need to find additional support if this
project is to be successful. I would like to find a student that is in charge of picking up the
recycled cans and weighing them on a weekly basis. I will be in charge of keeping a running
total of the weights for each fraternity.
Project Administration
I would like to have the recycle bins in place by the start of the fall 2013 semester. If my
estimations are correct the University of Idaho should recycle approximately 1,600 pounds of
aluminum each month. If these estimations go up or down I will contact the UISC Project
Coordinator to discuss the reasoning’s.
Plan for Future Action
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This project will continue to give back to the UI and UISC because fraternities are always going
to have a high number of aluminum cans that can be recycled. This project has potential to be
expanded in the future. If proven successful, the UI can begin to collect aluminum cans from
dorms and other campus areas. One of the advantages of this project has a very low startup cost
and will pay for itself in the future. Scrap dealers will pay up to $0.50 a pound for recycled
aluminum. If the estimations are correct and 6,000 pounds of aluminum are recycled a semester
then the UI will see a profit of $3,000. A portion of this money will be used to buy recycling bins
and flyers to promote the project. The remaining portion will be given to the fraternities that
recycle the most in which they can use as scholarships.
This project progress will be measured by the amount of aluminum is recycled each month. My
estimation is that 1,600 pounds could be recycled each month. While I consider this to be a
conservative estimate, there is a chance that not all fraternities buy into the project and the
estimates are not met. Given that, I believe any month that the UI recycles more than 1,200
pounds of aluminum a success. If there is a month in which we do not meet the 1,200 pound
threshold I will evaluate the reason why and determine what alternative measures need to be
taken.
Team Member Qualifications
I am currently the only member in this project. I am a senior at the UI and will be moving to
Boise upon completion of my degree. I am a member of the Delta Chi fraternity so I have
experience in the Greek community which I believe to be valuable when trying to promote this
project. I will be in charge of advertising this project as well as keeping the totals for each
fraternity and distributing the prize money. At least one more member will be needed for this
project and they will be determined at a later date.
Budget
UISC Grant Budget Template
Requested Matched
Funds
Funds
1. Equipment/ Capital Expenditure
Recycle Bins (51 needed)
total
Travel
total
Other direct costs
Advertising
total
Personnel
Total Budget Request
765
765
100
100
865
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Justification
The only expenditures for this project will be for the recycling bins and advertising. For the start
of the project the UI will give each fraternity 3 recycle bins to be disbursed throughout the
houses. Given there are 17 houses, there is a requirement of 51 recycles bins. The recycle bins
can be purchased at Wal-Mart for $15 a bin. That is how the $765 for capital expenditure was
reached. The other $100 is for printing the flyers to promote recycling of aluminum cans.
Supporting Material
Websites used to obtain informationhttp://earth911.com/news/2010/10/25/why-people-dont-recycle/
http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/benefits-recycling-aluminium-2740.html
http://thefraternityadvisor.com/recycling-cans-fundraiser/
http://dailybruin.com/2010/10/06/frats_should_start_recycling/
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