Class Examines Campus Recycling

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   The Economics of Environmental Management class recently held a seminar to discuss the feasibility of recycling on the University of Arkansas at Monticello campus.

   The class, which consisted of eight students, told the small crowd about the programs being done now, the programs that could be available and the recycling programs with the most upside.

   "Of the five home football games, about 500 bottles are sold per game," said Jim Dickson, a student in the class. "That's 2,500 bottles that could be recycled."

   UAM produces roughly 85 percent of all recycled paper and cardboard at the school, which saves about 61 cubic feet a year in a landfill. But more needs to be done, according to the class.

   "The U.S. has 6 percent of the world population, but produces 50 percent of worldwide trash," Dain Stricklin said. "The average college student produces 640 pounds of waste a year."

   This year, 2,778 students enrolled in courses. If every one of those students produced the average amount of trash, that would be 1,777,920 pounds of trash by students alone. Considering the only recycling the students do involves can pickup in the Science Center, there is a lot of wasted waste.

   "We would like to see more recycling bins put out, especially when you see how little they are," Brian Stover. "But we only have a recycling budget of $1,500."

   Most of this budget is spent on the disposal of paper and fluorescent bulbs. UAM must get rid of 1,000 pounds of paper a month, and 2,000 bulbs a year. The paper is sent to a certified document destroyer due to the fact that many of the papers contain sensitive information such as social security numbers and account balances. The bulbs must be compacted and shipped away.

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