Call for improved recycling options

After a long and contentious debate at its Sunday night meeting, the Undergraduate Assembly issued a resolution calling for better outdoor recycling. The resolution asks for more recycling receptacles across campus and better removal and management of recycling. But before the resolution got the OK, the body argued furiously about the language for over an hour. Still, in the end, the body approved the resolution and the Penn Environmental Group endorsed it. "The presence of recycling receptacles in key outdoor campus venues is a matter of importance for University students, a top priority of the Undergraduate Assembly, and a quality of life issue in the broadest sense," the statement reads. College junior Jed Gross, who was the key member behind the resolution, said: "I think we made a strong statement that Penn students, as well as the Penn Environmental Group, are concerned about recycling. We felt that this was a matter of urgency." The UA now plans to talk to the administration to determine how to realize these goals. The resolution notes that there has been a decline in recycling at Penn, according to statistics published by Facilities Services. "In 1998 and 1999, the University recycled 26 percent of its waste by weight, falling short of the 30 percent mark that was achieved circa 1996." One of several resolutions within the statement addresses the issue of adding recycling receptacles to both Locust Walk and the Perelman Quadrangle. "I think there is a need for recycling bins on Locust Walk," UA Chairman Michael Bassik said. Gross said that he decided to look into the lack of recycling after reading the Environmental Group's Green Times last spring. He and other UA members met with Vice President of Facilities Services Omar Blaik to discuss the problem. "I thought this was something that the UA should get involved in," Gross said. "They [the Environmental Group] had some very compelling arguments, and I felt it was an issue of importance to Penn students." The resolution is only part one of a multi-part initiative to improve all aspects of recycling. The resolution states: "Provisions for recycling should be incorporated into any new University facilities that have provisions for trash disposal." According to Bassik, the Student Life committee's next task is to attack the issue of indoor recycling in classrooms, residence halls and dining halls. The UA plans to carry the recycling issue to the next step. "We plan to follow up extensively with the administration on the issue," Bassik said. With the endorsement of the resolution by the PEG, the UA has plans to collaborate with them in the future, as well. "It's great that we have their support," said UA Secretary Dana Hork, a College junior. "We plan to work with them more in the future, and we hope that measures concerning indoor recycling are to come." Present at the meeting were two members of the PEG, College sophomores Sharon Hsu and Julia Baylor Harton. "I'm really glad that we could endorse the resolution," Harton said. "It's nice to show the administration that we have a lot of student support."