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Sept. 23, 1997 Contact John R. Crosiar (541) 346-3135
NOTE TO EDITORS: Karyn Kaplan will return from the National Recycling Coalition conference on Thursday, Sept. 25. You may contact her directly then at (541) 346-1529; e-mail, karyn_kaplan@ccmail.uoregon.edu. For assistance in arranging an interview or for other information, call the UO Office of Communications, (541) 346-3134. Additional information about the UO Campus Recycling Program is available on the Web at http://darkwing. uoregon.edu/~recycle/.
EUGENE--The nation's schools and colleges could save scarce resources and help protect the environment if more of them patterned their efforts after the University of Oregon's Campus Recycling Program, which received a national honor Monday afternoon (Sept. 22) as the 1997 Outstanding School Recycling Program. "Our panel of judges was very impressed with your submittal, and the NRC [National Recycling Coalition] is pleased to be able to honor your program as one of the `Best of the Best' in the nation," NRC awards chair Lisa Skumatz wrote to UO program manager Karyn Kaplan. "Your program is a model of what can be achieved, and you and your colleagues should be very proud of your efforts and success." The National Recycling Coalition presented its top honor to Kaplan and to Jeff Long, a student recycling coordinator, during the coalition's 16th annual congress and exposition in Orlando, Fla. Each year, the NRC awards recognize outstanding recycling achievements and help bring recognition to the nation's best efforts to conserve resources and reduce waste through recycling. The UO Campus Recycling Program, with components that begin with purchasing choices and end with re-use and recycling decisions, saves Oregon taxpayers big bucks. Begun as grassroots activism by students in the 1980s, the UO Campus Recycling Program became part of the university in 1991, the same year an Oregon law mandating recycling took effect. During 1995-96, the most recent fiscal year for which statistics are available, recycling saved $141,309 in dumping fees and hauling costs. Last year, students, faculty and staff on campus recycled 1,115.76 tons of waste--that's equal in volume to nearly 1,000 Honda hatchbacks and was nearly 42 percent of all garbage collected. The 1995-96 recovery rate was 5 percent more than the previous year.
According to program records, the most recent fiscal year is on track to best those marks. After the first nine months of 1996-97, cost avoidance totaled $113,099 for 1,004.27 tons of waste, 44 percent of all collected materials. The rate of waste reduction, recovery and recycling mandated in Oregon law is 50 percent by the year 2000, and the UO program is moving the campus toward that target. The UO recycling program, which began with volunteer help and now employs four full-time staff and about 40 part-time student workers as well as students earning academic credit, has evolved into an award-winning cooperative venture between students and administrators. It is jointly funded by the university's Facilities Services division, Associated Students of the University of Oregon student government and Office of University Housing. "Our program greatly benefits the campus community by setting a positive image, but it also serves as a model for the community-at-large because people take their campus recycling habits with them wherever they go," Kaplan says. "Ours is a program that creates solutions instead of adding to problems!" The UO Campus Recycling Program affects many aspects of campus life, reaching approximately 4,500 faculty and staff and more than 17,000 students on and off campus. Education, as reflected in the program's theme "Recycling is Higher Education," and the incorporation of waste reduction systems into university practices have been key elements in the program's success. Recycling containers are distributed across the campus grounds and in nearly every office and classroom building, including residence halls, Greek houses and family housing units. An aggressive events recycling program that reclaims all kitchen, paper, cardboard and food waste involves people attending all athletic contests as well as UO concerts and other public events. Kaplan says when markets are not available for recycling, the program has implemented innovative approaches to waste reduction. "One of our more creative efforts, established in cooperation with the campus managers group, is the Reusable Office Supply Exchange--ROSE, for short," she says. "Operated on a self-service basis and on the honor system from a large closet in an academic building, ROSE enables staff to drop off usable office supplies they no longer use and to take items they need." Since ROSE was established in April 1993, it has generated savings of nearly $16,000 per year. Other innovative UO recycling efforts include:
The university has instituted a paper-use policy that makes 100-percent unbleached recycled paper the default choice of University Publications, Printing Services and other offices across campus. Kaplan says 95 percent of the papers used on campus now are recycled. In addition, a recently implemented University Environmental Policy mandates purchase of recycled products and products with reduced and recyclable packaging. Dan Williams, vice president for administration, says the UO recycling program, besides saving money and resources, supports the university's mission through its education component. "It has provided hundreds of students with the opportunity for employment and for academic experiences through internships and on-the-job skill development and leadership roles," he says. Kaplan agrees, but says the challenge is to get people to take the initiative when it comes to recycling. "We have been meeting this challenge by implementing programs that make waste reduction and recycling a way of life at the university," she says. "The biggest asset we have is our excellent customer service and our willingness to spend time with individuals to get their feedback, answer questions and assist them in being successful. "From 1994-96, we documented a 15-percent reduction in overall campus waste generation while boosting recycling," Kaplan notes. "Our program has stimulated people to think beyond the garbage can to pre-cycling." -30- #O-2039/Local,OrDailies,PDX,Special
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