Alliance for Planet Earth wades through campus trash collecting recyclables
Couches. A light post. Human hair. Unidentifiable ooze that might have been vomit. Those were a few of the items littering the center of the College of Charleston campus Tuesday.
Students stepped around trash bags filled with Monday's garbage. Several covered their noses. Others tried not to gag as the aroma of old pizza and stale beer mixed with the scent of rotting cardboard and used bathroom products.
Video
What a waste
Students at the College of Charleston empty out garbage onto a campus street as part of a trash audit event
Students from the college's Alliance for Planet Earth dumped the waste there the night before in preparation for their trash audit.
"We all create a lot of solid waste, but where does it all go?" event organizer Fritz Stine said.
Trash collected from Dumpsters usually ends up in landfills, but some of the trash on display will be salvaged.
"Volunteers are going through it, bag by bag, looking for recyclables so we can reclaim them and give them back to the school," Stine said.
The group collected 301 pounds of plastic, 430 pounds of glass, 460 pounds of paper and 132 pounds of cans. Additionally, they collected 4,541 pounds of trash that couldn't be recycled.
The paper and cans can be sold for $775. Although recyclable, the plastic and glass can't be sold for profit.
The group used two moving trucks to transport the waste from about 20 Dumpsters to the center of campus.
Photo Gallery
College of Charleston trash audit
College of Charleston student organization Alliance for Planet Earth collected trash from campus garbage bins and sorted through it to retrieve recyclables Nov. 11.
"We didn't finish Dumpster diving until nearly 4 a.m.," Stine said.
To recruit volunteers, the group provided gloves and health waivers to people willing to wade through the trash.
"We brought it down here to show everyone how much bagged trash the college wastes in one day," Stine said. "We're putting it where people can see it so they know we're really responsible for a lot of waste."
Alessandra Castillo, president of the student group, said they have been doing trash audits on campus for several years, but this time they expanded the audit to include the entire campus.
She said the group advertised the event through the online community Facebook.com and through word-of-mouth. Several professors even offered extra credit to their students for participating.
Deborah Bidwell, a biology instructor at the college, got 70 of her students to volunteer by offering extra credit, she said.
But some students walking through campus Tuesday morning were unhappy to find the campus converted to a trash dump.
"The smell is disgusting," Mimi Levine said. "It's great that they're making a point, but I throw my trash out for a reason. I don't want to see it anymore."
Garbage breakdown
5,864
Total pounds of garbage
4,541
Pounds of unrecyclable trash
1,323 (23 percent)
Pounds of recyclable material
And measures at the college to reduce waste are a step behind other local universities, said Matt Gregory, a member of the alliance.
"If you think this is hardcore or a little over the edge, this is nothing compared with other schools," Gregory said. "Even though it may seem like a hard task, if you just put the plastic in the plastic bin and the paper in the paper bin, you're doing a lot."
However, the college has taken steps to increase recycling participation on campus.
The college formed the Committee on Recycling and Environmental Responsibility in November 2001 to handle environmental issues concerning the campus community.
Reach Aubrey Straub at astraub@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
LocalHero (anonymous) says...
This is good! The students complaining demonstrate the ignorant attitude that has gotten us to this point to begin with. Maybe a field trip to the landfill would be helpful.
Sigh.
November 14, 2007 at 7:24 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
majorjohnson (anonymous) says...
Credit in a biology class for picking through the garbage for recyclables? How much biology did they learn as they waded through the garbage? Shouldn't extra credit be given for something that would extend your understanding of the subject?
November 14, 2007 at 9:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
unknown_username (anonymous) says...
Majorjohnson - decomposition is very much a part of biology, as are the processes that make recycling possible, as is the impact trash has on a society. I assure you, much was learned during this project that pertains directly to biology.
Had it been Chemistry students, Physics students, English students, foreign language students, math students, or business students - their respective fields aside, they all would have been learning something from the project.
These kids were trying to do what they could to help their community. Pat them on the back and leave it at that.
Bravo to those who participated. I'm going to forward this to my out-of-state/country compatriots to show them not everyone in SC has their head in the sand when it comes to responsible living. Keep up the green work. We are very proud of you.
November 14, 2007 at 10:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sheeple (anonymous) says...
"I assure you, much was learned during this project that pertains directly to biology."
Sure, if they were elementary school students. Merely sorting trash teaches absolutely nothing about biology on a college level--not even a survey level.
November 14, 2007 at 3:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
carowinds (anonymous) says...
I get such a kick out of reading the comments attached to environment-related articles in this paper. There's nothing like examples of people caring about the earth and taking action for positive change to bring out the narrow-minded, backward-thinking, angry redneck Southerners. Thankfully your numbers are gradually being replaced by younger generations, both liberal and conservative, who actually understand that you can proactively care for the earth and still have time to "make all the great discoveries" that dolemite77 thinks will fall to the Chinese and Europeans. Tripsa and dolemite77 and the assorted others who post regularly when these articles come out, enjoy your narrow-mindedness while you can; the prehistoric attitudes of people like you are rapidly become a woeful minority.
November 14, 2007 at 4:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sethbuller (anonymous) says...
how can you possibly put a negative spin on this action? they're called volunteers for a reason. they took time out of their own schedule, which as full time students can be very difficult, to VOLUNTEER. its not like they were volunteers to hand out flyers or something, we were shoving their hands into bags full of old food, bathroom waste, countless starbucks cups(with mystery creamy coffee substance still in it), and walking in a smell that you couldn't stand for more than 10 minutes. as a full day volunteer(8 AM to 9 PM...and still finishing the last ends up today), i feel very offended that you call the teachers that asked their students to volunteer "another liberal, enviro-whacko" 's.
bottomline- don't search for ways to make this look bad. we got out there and directly worked for something we care about.
...thanks unknownusername and carowinds... this support helps us spread our message to more than just our fellow college students.
November 14, 2007 at 4:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wklaudeman (anonymous) says...
To call a professor or student that tries to make a change an "enviro whacko" is incredibly closed-minded. As has been said, these students spent the day wading and sorting through OUR trash. If we all dealt with trash and recycling correctly in the first place, it wouldn't be necessary to inconvenience you so.
Recycling directly affects biology, and while it may not be a lesson straight out of a college level biology class (I can think of a few that taught me less), it is important for students to see that they can make a change, and that these actions CAN affect the world and inspire others to do the same.
November 14, 2007 at 6:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
escapee (anonymous) says...
It's not the act of sorting the recyclables, it's the idea that this action represents. Awareness is the message trying to be delivered, no extra credit, and especially no class credit. Some of the comments posted here are from people who will not be affected by "the future" because they will be gone. It's a shame they can't think of the world that their kids and grandkids will inherit in "the future." Selfish...
November 14, 2007 at 9 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
snoflk86 (anonymous) says...
Obviously you haven't been to C of C campus lately Geechie. There are recycling bins next to almost every trash can-both in the buildings and outside. People are just lazy and it is not just the students it is everyone in the Southeast basically!
I can't believe some of the people on here! Everyone criticizing the project obviously does not know anything about real environmental issues-and please don't reply acting like you actually pay attention to environmental problems and the scientific data that supports the ideas. I know people like you-and you are totally naive! Please somebody give me a good reason why recycling is a bad thing to do because you sure are acting like its horrible!
November 15, 2007 at 1:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
snoflk86 (anonymous) says...
I actually signed up yesterday just to reply to these ridiculous posts! The Southeast is behind on most environmental issues that the rest of the country is taking action on-that doesn't mean I don't want to live here. I still manage to recycle just fine wherever I live. I would rather live somewhere that has people that don't realize the importance of these issues so that I can do things to change it. Maybe I'm completely naive and optimistic, but I'm sure there were plenty of people that were surprised and disgusted by how much waste we produce when they saw all of that trash on campus, and if we have raised the awareness of people that genuinely didn't realize and that aren't already so hardheaded, then it was worth it.
November 16, 2007 at 10:20 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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