Students seek system to improve recycling

Bin Blitz began with a bang.

On Saturday, Penn Environmental Group volunteers and Eco-Reps made an inventory of the recycling systems in each college house — an effort called Bin Blitz.

The initiative presents “a chance for students to audit the college house recycling system to look at the inconsistencies and to get ideas for improvements,” Student Eco-Reps Coordinator and Sustainability Associate Julian Goresko said. The idea was first mentioned last year during a Recycle Mania Committee meeting.

Bin Blitz volunteers walked through the college houses, filled out a checklist, photographed the building’s recycling bins and updated signage, according to Sustainability Communications Associate Steve Belfiglio.

The fundamental goal was to make recycling simpler for all students in order to help Penn reach its Climate Action Plan goal of a 40-percent recycling rate, according to Goresko.

To reach this goal, college houses must have bin types that are consistent in color and shape, with the same type label inside and they have to be located where they are most effective, Penn’s Environmental Sustainability Coordinator Dan Garofalo said.

Another goal is to address questions about how to recycle special items like batteries and printer cartridges that people often are confused about, he added.

“There has been a very enthusiastic output, mostly I think because this is a meaningful way to for students to engage with recycling at Penn,” Garofalo said.

PEG Liaison for RecycleMania Ashima Sukhdev, a College sophomore, said student volunteers should get involved rather than leaving it up to administrators because this has been a student issue for a long time.

“We notice how poor the recycling signage was when we lived in Hill last year and when we heard about this initiative we were excited something was finally going to be done to improve it,” College sophomore and another PEG Liaison for RecycleMania Abby Waldorf said.

“I noticed when I came to Penn that the recycling system was confusing and ineffective,” Nursing freshman and Hill College House Eco-Rep Co-Leader Tacie Reger said. “We need a consistent recycling system because a lot of people throw things away based on convenience.”

It’s difficult to get people who don’t care about recycling to recycle when there is no concrete system, College freshman and Hill College House Eco- Rep Co-Leader Samantha Lieberman said.

“I hope that we make a uniform model throughout the University,” she added.

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