Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a television for 3 hours. Enough
aluminum is thrown away to rebuild our commercial air fleet four times every year.
Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water. Over 100 million
trees are cut to make junk mail every year.
Almost 10 percent of the world’s fossil fuel goes into the making of plastic products.
Less than 10 percent of discarded plastic get recycled.
In a given year,a bout 10,000 tons of materials are discarded from our campus facilities.
By weight, close to 30% of this material is deposited by users into the various recycling
bins and there by, avoid a trip to the landfill. This makes our University one of the top
schools in recycling. But we can do better!
Our recent study indicates that over 25 percent of the trash thrown away in the campus
buildings is recyclable material; paper is the biggest culprit. We Conserve campaign in
collaboration with the Physical Plant Department is in the midst of implementing several
new ideas listed below to improve this situation.
First, there will be no need to separate out the various types of paper when discarding
them in the hallways. A single recycling bin marked Mixed Paper will accept all types of
paper -- Newspaper, Office Paper, Phonebooks, Cardboards, Magazines, Catalogs, and
Envelopes. In the offices, computer labs, and copy rooms paper recycling containers
will continue to be dedicated for Office Paper only.
Recycling of bottles and cans will continue to be collected in a single bin. In the
hallways, the Mixed Paper recycling bin, the Cans and Bottles recycling bin, and trash
containers will always be located next to each other and will be labeled with new signs to
avoid confusion and signify a new look and a renewed campus resolve for more
recycling.
In addition, in collaboration with UW-SWAP, Division of Housing, DoIT, and Facilities
Planning and Management aggressive programs and plans to improve the re-use and
recycling of construction materials, electronic devices, and personal items are underway.
Furthermore, We Conserve is working with student groups to encourage the use of
refillable drink containers and to reduce the use of disposable bottles and cans.
We are confident that this new program along with an extensive awareness campaign will
result in great improvements and reduce our environmental footprint in this category. We
will measure our success one less item in the landfill at a time! Be the WE!