Recyclemania numbers down from last year

While the effort to promote the nationwide recycling competition Recyclemania at Portland State has been greater this year than in the past, the current statistics show a slight decrease in recyclable material collected.

After allowing for time to collect and produce proper statistics, numbers generally come out a week after a theme is finished.

“It doesn’t look as good,” said Crystel Eichner, resource management coordinator at Portland State. “In week five we got a 20.49 percent recycling rate, and last year we were at 22.5 percent. It’s really hard to tell why it’s different. Our efforts this year are greater to get the word out. We certainly got as many if not more recycling bins, so it couldn’t be because of our recycling ability.”

Though despite the numbers for recycling rates, waste minimization is shows a positive trend.

“In waste minimization though, we have gotten better,” Eichner said. “We have generated, at week five, 4.25 pounds per person, compared to last year in ’08 we were at 4.77 pounds per person. And we’ve been consistently better in all weeks for waste minimization.”

Portland State has not yet entered into the top five in any of the categories Recyclemania monitors. Eichner pointed out that the university has only had a recycling program for a relatively short period of time compared to many of the other schools involved. It may be more difficult to Portland State to get “up to speed” with other schools that have been more institutionalized with recycling habits, she said.

“Even though we are in green Portland, our program is still relatively new,” Eichner said.

Eichner also had one tip to help with the recycling efforts at the university and to help recycling companies in general.

“Our biggest problem is coffee cups in the recycling,” Eichner said. “Because it’s got a wax or plastic lining on it and the recycling companies can not take that apart. That’s why we want to encourage folks to bring their own reusable mug.”

Weekly Recyclemania scores have been posted showing the competition’s progress. Students can see the scores in Ondine’s lobby, the Millar Library, the Smith Market and in the Re-Use Room located on the first floor of Cramer Hall.

A table has also been set up as a resource for students, keeping with the weekly themes Recyclemania focuses on. The table is located between Neuberger Hall and the Smith Memorial Student Union.

“We are currently in week six out of 10 weeks. This is our composting and worm bin week,” Eichner said. “Next week, we’ve got water bottles week. It’s ‘take back the tap.’ We are going to focus on using water bottles instead of purchasing bottled water.”

In addition to focusing on water bottle waste, a short film, The Story of Stuff, will be shown on March 5 from noon to 1 p.m. in SMSU room 296. Eichner pointed out that if students can’t make the showing, they could also watch the film online at www.thestoryofstuff.com.

In the weeks to come, other themes will include reducing office waste, and “move out week” where students who are moving out of their housing are encouraged to donate their furniture and school supplies for other students who can benefit from them.

Sustainability Coordinator Noelle Studer-Spevak has also been putting forth an effort to get university departments to form green teams to help manage multiple sustainable efforts more directly.

“Green teams [are] a new thing we have to encourage individuals departments to lead recycling energy conservations, green purchasing, anything related to sustainable practices,” Studer-Spevak said.