We speak for the trees

Campus recycling center pilots innovative environmental solutions

Beth Keim, Lisa Gonzavez and Adam Thompson, all employees of SF State's recycling center, are taking an active interest in saving the environment, even if it means traveling off campus to get their message across Northern California.

They joined an estimated 2,700 protesters on Saturday, Sept. 15 in a rally to save Headwaters Forest in Mendicino County, which is one of the last places in the country where ancient natural standing redwood trees can be found, according to Gary Ball, co-coordinator for the Mendicino Environmental Center.

SF State's recycling center is taking positive steps to recycle nearly 90,000 pounds of waste that the university accumulates weekly. Since its inception eight years ago, the center has expanded to include a part-time staff as well as numerous volunteers.

"There's a lot of enthusiasm and excitement here. It's a student group, and we've been here for eight years, and that takes a lot of persistence," said Ben Duggan, a center co-coordinator.

Gonzavez chose SF State's student-run recycling center because of her beliefs.

"I wanted to work here because it was one of the very few jobs that is beneficial to a large number of people," Gonzaves said. "It's been a concern of mine, and it's nice to be with people who feel as strongly as I do about the environment."

Thompson came by his association with the center in an unusual way.

"I was arrested in a political demonstration and had to serve community hours, so I chose to do it here," he said. His hours soon turned into a two-year association with the center.

Each week, the center makes 30 collection runs to various administrative offices. It also maintains over 400 recycling bin locations on campus.

Duggan believes part of the solution to student recycling is to make places for refuse easily accessible.

The recycling bins that are placed throughout the campus serve an important and distinct service to the campus community. The center recycles 12 types of waste, which include plastics, laser toners, paper and aluminum, according to Duggan.

"We negotiate the location of where to put the bins around the buildings, but with the campus community encouraging recycling it's never a problem," Duggan said. "It's intuitive -- we look where mainstream traffic is, and that's where we try and put them."

For some students, convenience isn't the only motivation to recycle.

Fashion design student Melissa Catlin believes she recycles on campus because of both the placement of recycling bins and habit. "I try to hold onto stuff and recycle it later if there isn't anything around," she said.

Catlin also believes that efforts to recycle don't pay off quickly. "People are so apathetic because they aren't going to see the benefits of recycling right away -- it has a long term effect," she said.

While the center recycles industrial waste, organic waste (which is comprised of used food and yard material) needs to be recycled more, according to David Assmann, public outreach coordinator for San Francisco Recycling.

"Organic waste makes the largest component that goes to landfills now, even more than paper," Assmann said.

The recycling center also has a compost collection program, where food and yard waste are placed in bins to be decomposed for use as a nutrient rich soil additive.

"We give away finished compost so it can be added to garden soil or potting soil for the home," said Jennifer Ketring, the center's compost coordinator.

Ketring sees the idea of composting expanding as the need to recycle organic waste grows.

"Composting is just now getting off its feet because people started to see the benefits of recycling," Ketring said. "Now it's time to look at organic material."

The center was recently awarded a $50,000 grant from the City of San Francisco, which will go towards the installation of an in-vessel composting system that has the ability to turn 1,000 pounds of organic material into 500 pounds of compost.

The new com

[ Golden Gater Online September 28, 1995 ]

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