Recycling

Taking the Recycling Initiative

University Housing has adopted an internal recycling program accepting mixed paper, mixed plastics, cardboard and aluminum.  In order to keep costs to a minimum and provide the best service, University Housing has opted to eliminate exterior bins and provide internal hall bins to those who wish to participate in the program.  University Housing will collect recycling from each hall once a week and deliver it to Moscow Recycling. Other items not accepted in the University Housing recycling program such as tin or glass can still be taken to Moscow Recycling directly. It is important to remember that any non-recyclable item placed in a hall bin negates the validity of the bin, and therefore contaminates the entire bin.

Starting a Residence Community Recycling Program

University Housing encourages students to take recycling to the next step by starting a hall recycling program.  Each hall/floor may select a person to serve as recycling coordinator (RC). That person along with other hall volunteers will be responsible to ensure that recycling is not overflowing and contamination is removed prior to University Housing picking it up.

University Housing provides two 30-gallon green recycling bins with lids for mixed paper and mixed plastics to each hall. Halls may also collect cardboard and aluminum, but they must provide their own approved bin:

• The bins cannot obstruct hallways or emergency exits.
• Must be large enough to hold a week worth of recycling
• Aluminum bins must have lids
• Must be aesthetically pleasing

Recycling Facts

• Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees, two barrels of oil (enough to run the average car for 1,260 miles), 4,100 kilowatts of energy (enough power for the average home for six months), 3.2 cubic yards of landfill space, and 60 pounds of air pollution. Trash to Cash
• Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every three months. Environmental Defense Fund
• About 80 percent of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is just 28 percent. Environmental Protection Agency
• Recycling creates six times as many jobs as land filling. Colorado Recycles
• Recycling glass instead of making it from silica sand reduces mining waste by 70 percent, water use by 50 percent, and air pollution by 20 percent. Environmental Defense Fund
• Recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to operate a TV for three hours. Eco-Cycle
• If we recycled all of the newspapers printed in the U.S. on a typical Sunday, we would save 550,000 trees, or about 26 million trees per year. California Department of Conservation
• The energy saved each year by steel recycling is equal to the electrical power used by 18 million homes each year, or enough energy to last Los Angeles residents for eight years. Steel Recycling Institute
• If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 1,000 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100 percent recycled ones, we could save 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space, and 155 million gallons of water. Seventh Generation Co.
• The U.S. holds 5 percent of the world's population but uses 25 percent of its natural resources. Environmental Protection Agency