It’s not easy being green

To the random passerby, the Portland State campus is a sight for sore eyes. With the integration of nature and urbanization, it’s more or less the ideal campus setting. Look closer and you will see both trashcans and recycling bins spread out over the vast mecca that is PSU. So far, the groups focused on recycling and sustainability have done a great job at making recycling easy and accessible for PSU students.

This begs the question: why are all the trashcans filled to the brim with paper, plastic cups and plastic coffee cup lids? These things are recyclable, after all.

There are many possible answers; apathy, laziness or just misinformation on what is and isn’t recyclable seem most likely.

“Compared to other schools and universities, Portland State is more proactive about recycling,” said freshman Debbie Lee. “But it’s still more of an issue than it should be, since Portland State makes it so easy to recycle and we live in the greenest city in the United States.”

Lee, who is from a college town in Washington that she says makes no efforts to recycle, believes PSU is “much better.” Indeed, PSU does stand out in terms of recycling.

In 2009, PSU students followed many other universities and voted in favor of the Green Initiative Fund. This referendum would put a $5 per term “green fee” in place, which would raise an expected $500,000 to support various green programs on campus. It would also help reduce the school’s impact on the environment. While the Green Initiative Fund has yet to take effect, many other campus organizations are doing their part to make PSU as green as can be.

Among the various posters and flyers around campus, there are many posters advertising for PSU’s EcoRep program. An EcoRep is a student who works to educate students in their residence halls about environmental issues, such as recycling. Their philosophy is that the students of PSU can reduce their impact on the earth by making simple changes in their lifestyles. This is something we should all take to heart.

This is not the only green program on campus, though. There is also the Sustainability Leadership Council, the Institute for Sustainable Solutions, PSU Recycles and Climate Champions programs. While SLC and ISS programs focus on building sustainable leadership and volunteer opportunities, working in the student gardens and being integrated into the community, PSU Recycles aims to create a completely sustainable campus and reduce waste through recycling and compost.

The Climate Champions program brings resource conservation and stewardship to the different departments on campus. It helps faculty members reduce their department’s impact on the environment.

So, with all these great organizations working toward the common goal of a sustainable campus, PSU is well on its way. But it’s not quite there yet. Those trashcans full of recyclable items are still a blemish on the otherwise pristine face of PSU’s green campus.

If you’re not sure whether something is recyclable or not, simply Google. For example, “Is this coffee cup lid recyclable?” and you’ll most likely receive a plethora of answers pointing you in the right direction.

Post-bachelor student Dawn Yanagihara suggests that another solution would be to “get the graphic design kids to design some creative posters that say what is and isn’t recyclable and put them up all over campus.”

A fine solution indeed, and one that should be put into consideration by the various green organizations throughout the school. A partnership between art and recycling would be a beautiful thing to behold, considering that sustainability is defined as being self-supporting. With different departments working together for a common goal, sustainability becomes an even more reachable target.

Sustainability is all about people working together to lessen our impact on the environment. With the organizations on campus hard at work making this a reality in one of the greenest cities in the U.S., PSU is well on its way to becoming as green as can be. Just remember that those damn plastic coffee cup lids are, in fact, recyclable.