School of Cycling

Dear President Robert E Witt,
Recycling has become a major issue in our world today, and as a university we should promote more recycling programs on our campus to help improve our environment. As a fellow student of the university I am only aware of some of the recycling programs on our campus, such as the “tri-bins” that are randomly placed throughout the campus area, but my unawareness of the recycling programs presents the argument that a large number of the student body is also unknowledgeable of these programs. The SGA Department of Environmental Concerns is the organization on campus responsible for “encouraging a more sustainable campus”, but most of the informing is done through campaigns, such as Energy Conservation Campaigns within the Residential Halls, Residential Recycling. Environmental Ambassadors inside Bryant Denny Stadium during UA Home Games, Game Day Recycling on the Quad, and Academic/Administrative Hall Recycling, which are all helpful, but for our campus to improve its impact on the environment we need more involvement. Which will only happen when more become knowledgeable. The awareness of the issue has made recycling easier for the US because more of the community is starting to provide more convenient means of recycling, such as bins, dumpsters, and even recycling pick-up services, and our campus should also make recycling more convenient and easy for not only students but visitors as well.
The University has a lot of great recycling programs and with the help of other recycling organizations we can continue to improve our community. Each year every college and university gets graded in specific categories and receives a “College Sustainability report card”, which can be pulled up on www.greenreportcard.org, this report card is a great way to learn about how your school is improving in recycling, how it needs to be improved, and certain aspects of programs that are recycling on the campus. The University of Alabama’s average grade report for the year 2010 was a B-, overall very good grade, especially when compared to surrounding colleges such as, Auburn with a grade of C+, and the University of Georgia just barely passing with a C. Our university needs to set the example for the southern colleges and work harder to improve and become the best, to set the standards high. In the 2010 College Sustainability Report Card there are nine categories: Administration, Climate Change & Energy, Food & Recycling, Green Building, Student Involvement, Transportation, Endowment Transparency, Investment Priorities, and Shareholder Engagement. The areas that our university needs to improve in are Administration, Green Building, and Endowment Transparency. For these are the only three categories that we were graded a C or D in. This Report Card is just one example of an easy way to pick out aspects that need improvement; other ways include becoming knowledgeable of all the different ways to decrease our campus environmental footprint and also comparing each of the ways to figure out the best way to do things financially.
Money always seems to be an issue when trying to fix anything, but fortunately there are organizations that provide loans for colleges interested in becoming “green” because recycling, along with everything else, can end up costing some money. The amount of money that recycling saves depends on the program that was used to do it, which explains how becoming aware of all the possibilities is beneficial in many ways. The amount of money spent on recycling bins, awareness flyers, dumpsters, pick-up, and all the necessities for our campus to really go green are worth it. Our environment has become more polluted and college campuses are one of the worst’s spots for pollution. There are around 29,000 students on our campus, so along with faculty, staff, and visitors there are always a lot of people on campus. Which means a lot of trash coming from all the food-courts and classrooms that can easily be recycled and reused. All this trash would be more easily recycled if there were more standards for it around campus, for example buying more recycling bins for inside and outside all of the buildings on campus instead of purchasing more trash bins would be a good expense worth the money. The SGA Department of Environmental Concerns has came up with a “Green Guide” which is given out to freshman students to inform them on ways to decrease their impact on the environment at the university. If this “green guide” was edited every year and distributed not only to the freshman class but to campus stores and buildings for everyone to see and take home and share, more of the student body would be knowledgeable of ways to improve. The solutions to the campus’s recycling issue are not very difficult. All that needs to be fixed is the convenience and amount of the proper available recycling bins and information to everyone who comes onto campus. This solution will not only improve our environment but our community and perception as well. Our perception would be a hardworking and caring campus. This new perception that is formed will attract more people looking at colleges and also strive surrounding areas to meet up with our criteria. Which will improve not only our community but also the quality of lives for those who follow in our footstep.