Recycling effort hampered

Contamination problems resulting from Penn's outdoor recycling initiative on campus are causing concern among University officials and environmentalists. The initiative -- which provides separate well-marked recycling containers across campus -- is coordinated by the Penn Environmental Group, the Undergraduate Assembly and various University officials. But since its formation last semester, the policy has made little progress due to contamination problems in the recycling bins. "We have increased the amount of [recycling] cans, but we still seem to have contamination," Director of Maintenance in Facilities Services Mike Coleman said. "I just don't think enough students are aware of the recycling bins." The bins extend from 33rd Street by the athletic complex down to 38th Street and in between Walnut and Spruce streets. PEG has relocated some of the bins to make them more prominent to students. "We have been trying to place the bins near trash cans to encourage recycling, but we really just need for students to use them correctly," PEG President Sharon Hsu said. Despite some of the bins' relocation, the contamination problem remains. "I think some of the cans are clean enough to be accepted, but some of them are still contaminated with trash," said Hsu, a College sophomore. Coleman attributed the problem to both a lack of student awareness and the cold winter. "I just don't think enough students are aware of the recycling bins since the weather has been so bad," Coleman said. "We hope that it will improve as the spring weather comes." He also says that the nicer weather will allow the project to get its feet off the ground. "When it gets a bit warmer out we will be able to go on College Green and get the word out about the initiative," Coleman said. "We are going to start campaigning and get people to participate more." UA member Jed Gross, one of the creators of the project, hopes that the physical proximity of the different bins will produce better results. "We've tried physically grouping them together, but I think we may have to go further in that direction," said Gross, a College sophomore. "If they are right next to each other it will be easier for students to dispose of things appropriately." Although the weather may solve some of the project's obstacles, PEG has decided that the big igloos scattered across campus, which are also used for recycling purposes, are going to be relabeled to make them more visible. "As it stands now they are all taken away together and when that happens everything is not recycled properly," Hsu said. "We hope this will encourage more recycling which will be more convenient and visible to students." Hsu said that once the contamination problems are solved, PEG will work with Facilities Services to expand the project off campus. "It is hard to expand when the current ones aren't working well," Hsu noted. "We really need student participation and low contamination levels for this to work effectively." Eventually, the recycling initiative will be expanded to the dorms. The Office of College Houses and Academic Services introduced indoor recycling to the Quad over the past year. But Gross notes that they must ensure the success of the outdoor project. "It is great that the geographical area is expanding but we also have to make sure people are utilizing the containers in the areas available," Gross said. "We're still trying to hope for the highest level of participation that we can get."