by Ashleigh Sanchez
Daily Lobo
It's easier than ever for students to help the environment.
And you don't have to look very far.
Four recycling containers were installed last week at Popejoy Hall, the east side of the SUB and at the bus stops at Dane Smith Hall and the corner of Yale Boulevard and Redondo Drive.
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They were funded by a $4,000 grant from Cheo Torres, vice president of Student Affairs.
The bins feature separate slots for newspapers, plastic, glass and general trash, feeding into 55-gallon drums.
The containers will help make trash by the bus stops a thing of the past, Torres said.
"I believe in recycling, and this is something that a lot of our students are very conscientious of," he said. "Our students do recycle. We need to make it easy for them to do so."
The containers are the first outdoor recycling effort on campus and an important step toward keeping the University clean, said Linda McCormick, director of UNM's
recycling operations and designer of the bins.
The bins are accessible to people with disabilities because they're built low enough to accommodate wheelchair users, she said.
The bins should boost recycling on campus, and they are equipped to handle all kinds of waste, McCormick said.
"It is certainly going to increase our collection of plastic and aluminum," she said. "We encourage people to put anything in those bins - cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles - because we will bring it back here and separate it."
All of the materials will be processed at the UNM recycling center, where they will be packed and sold, she said.
McCormick said the bins are the start of a campaign to bring recycling to students.
The University should continue to expand its recycling program, Torres said.
"I hope this is just the beginning, and we'll continue supporting the concept," he said. "(We) can start looking at what we do to recycle and make this world a better world."
Recycling at UNM:
The center recycles about 25 percent of the school's trash.
It processed more than 1,500 tons of recyclable goods in 2006, most of which were paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and appliances.
About 1,000 tons were batteries, scrap tires, motor oil and antifreeze.
The center also recycles plastic foam, which can be converted into building insulation.
Source: Linda McCormick, UNM recycling director.
