Recycling Program Overlooked By Students

In an attempt to supplement New York City's newly contracted recycling program, administrators in University Residence Halls have plastered undergraduate dormitories with colorful signs laying out city recycling policies and advertising a voluntary recycling program known as We Can.

Following Mayor Michael Bloomberg's announcement of cuts to recycling budgets in 2002, Columbia has relied on the We Can program to recycle containers that would otherwise be discarded under the new laws.

Bloomberg's new policies continue to allow the recycling of metals and paper but do not recycle glass or plastic. We Can, a non-profit group, collects glass and plastic bottles, exchanges them for deposit money, and then donates all proceeds to the homeless.

According to a poll conducted by the Natural Resources Defense Council in 1997, some 80 percent of New York residents favored expansion of existing recycling services. Since last year's cutbacks, however, far fewer New Yorkers have chosen to exercise the remaining options available for recycling bottles.

And despite the new program, many Columbia students have abandoned recycling altogether.

Failure on the part of students and area residents to recycle stems not from a disregard for the program, but rather from its poor publicity. When possible, URH has moved both paper and redeemable-container recycling bins into the direct vicinity of trash collection areas to remind residents that recycling is still possible.

The University has also posted flyers with information about We Can.

"The changes in New York City's policy have been a setback to Columbia's recycling program," according to the official statement from Columbia Conserves, the University's initiative to keep recycling alive in the face of budget cuts. "But it is important to note that paper, metal, and redeemable plastic bottles can still be recycled on campus."

Under the "Bottle Bill" passed by New York State in 1983, bottle and can manufacturers must offer a five-cent deposit for recyclable containers; We Can uses this deposit money for charitable donations.

"The We Can program supports many programs for those less fortunate and the homeless," the URH signs read. "Believe me, those nickels do add up! Don't throw it away!" All bottles marked eligible for deposit can be redeemed through the We Can program.

We Can has been operational since 1986--long before the cuts in funding that have led to the abolition of glass and plastic recycling in New York City--but has become instrumental to New York's poor since the loss of city-funded recycling services. "Thousands of homeless and other less fortunate people in New York take advantage of the law," said We Can director Guy Polhemus. Every bottle recycled properly augments the resources available to such individuals, he added.

"It is something that provides 50 dollars to 100 dollars or more per week," said Polhemus, who founded the program. He explained that many New Yorkers remain unaware of the amount of people who have relied on container collection in past years as a means to supplement their income.

While glass and plastic recycling by the New York City Department of Sanitation have been eliminated for the time being, many other materials remain eligible for city-funded recycling. All paper and metal products previously covered by city recycling services can still be recycled as usual. Both the Sanitation Department and the Natural Resources Defense Council provide comprehensive lists of these materials on their web sites.

According to the agreement negotiated by Bloomberg and the City Council following the proposed recycling cuts, glass and plastic recycling by the Sanitation Department should resume within the next few years.