The Saint Rose Chronicle

Issue date: 2/7/07 Section: News

The recycling plan at Saint Rose is measured against those at area campuses.

Students on Capital District campuses are thinking green, and it's time for The College of Saint Rose to follow suit. Siena College in Loudonville and The University at Albany are taking conservation matters into their own hands with recycling programs and competitions to inspire students to help preserve the environment.

Tim Reilly, the Senior Staff Assistant at UAlbany, said that the University has had several recycling programs in the past. Certain student groups, such as NYPERG, for instance, are actively involved in initiating and sustaining conservation efforts. Reilly spoke about "UAlbany Goes Green," a promotional event sponsored by the Administration that took place in October of 2006.

"It was a contest among the quads on campus to see who could gather the most recyclables," Reilly said. Students collected materials like glass, plastic, and tin. Paper and cardboard were separated out. "As long as they were cleaned, rinsed, and sorted," he said. "Facilities would collect them and count them as part of the contest." Each quad was represented.

"The students were very energetic and engaged in this contest," Reilly said. UAlbany, in continuance with their efforts to stay green, has signed up to participate in a nationwide recycling contest between Universities.

Amy Kiernozek, a sophomore at The College of Saint Rose, thinks a recycling competition is a good idea for our own campus, but worries that not as many students will participate.
"Since I'm a commuter, I probably wouldn't be as involved, since I recycle at home," she said. "For those students living on campus, I think we should have containers that can be accessible to everyone. Maybe we could put them right outside the dorms so whenever students walk outside to go to class, they can easily throw recyclables in there."

Siena College has picked up on the importance of raising awareness about recycling as well. Their Recycling Program, which began over ten years ago, is still going strong today. Keith Volsky, Grounds Manager at the college, said in an e-mail interview that his department is an essential part of maintaining this program. Just as crucial, however, are the students themselves.

"The rest of the recycling must be a cooperative effort with the campus community; yet another reason why raising awareness is so important," Volsky said. According to the "Siena College Trash and Recycling FAQ" sheet, Siena recycles 120,370 pounds of mixed paper a year, as well as 208,519 pounds of cardboard. The recyclables are collected along with the trash, and sorted at the recycling area.

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