Floyd Hall Residents Earn Recycling Bragging Rights

A cadre of volunteers in Tyvek suits combed through more than 40 bags of trash last week, discovering that the residents of Floyd Hall are the Governors Quad's most efficient recyclers.

With a recycling rate of 17.4 percent, Floyd Hall out-collected Trinkle, Stuart and Peery as determined by volunteers from the Office of Housing and Residential Life, the RU Environmental Club and the Department of Facilities Management. The team sorted through one day's worth of the halls' trash for paper, containers and cardboard that could have been recycled rather than trashed.

"I can't wait to take a shower because it is pretty gross, but it is amazing to find out what could have been recycled and show how easy it is to recycle," said Stacey Jewell, co-president of the environmental club and a sophomore nursing major from Richmond.

Among the items found trashed that could have been recycled were drafts of a 10-page paper titled "Killing the Planet" and a recycling bag from a local grocery store.

"The audit provided hard data on student recycling that shows our students are buying into the need to recycle," said Dave Falletta, area director for the Governors Quad. "I am proud of our students and staff who are making the effort."

The auditors determined that the four residence halls generated almost 300 pounds of trash, 68 pounds of which could have been recycled. The bulk of the recycling was plastic, aluminum or tin containers.

The audit is part of RU's participation in the 12^th annual RecycleMania, a nationwide challenge that ignites college rivalries and rallies students, faculty and staff to increase campus recycling rates. For the fourth consecutive year, RU has joined more than 600 colleges and universities nationwide to promote waste reduction activities on campus.

For more on RU’s recycling and sustainability activities, visit the RU SustainABILITY website.