elisabeth freligh / NL Club members Dane Johnston, Amy Volz and Sandra Matthews after the Friday morning pick up.   elisabeth freligh / NL Above: Bob Jewell makes a collection, Jan. 23 on behalf of the UAA Recycling Club.

Recycling Program gains municipal support

By Sarah Loski
Northern Light

The University of Alaska Anchorage thinks that Recycling Club thinks recycling is sexy. Or at least 93 percent of surveyed students think so, according to the university Recycling Program.

The program, now funded by student fees and Recycling Club fundraising, conducted the survey last November to determine support among the student body.

The Municipality of Anchorage is noticing as well. The university program is under consideration for a $28,000 grant to be awarded in February.

The grant program stimulates and assists community programs that encourage recycling and that have proposed projects with merit where financial aid could be put to good use, said Keith Howard from the Municipality of Anchorage Solid Waste Services.

The UAA Recycling Program applied for the grant through a city-wide competitive process, where applicants had to demonstrate benefit to the community, financial capability, promotion of recycling and most important: results.

Future plans for the grant include the purchase of 115 recycling bins for every common area on the campus. Portions will also pay for the director’s position, hauling and the use of a truck for volunteer pick-ups.

Alaskans generate 6 pounds of trash per person each day, which exceeds the national average by 1.6 pounds, according to the Anchorage Recycling Center Web site.

Currently the program, which relies on around 20 volunteers, only collects office paper and newspaper from the faculty and staff at UAA.

Though the UA Board of Regents policy states that each university department will take an “active role in resource recovery and conservation by recycling; minimizing resource use and waste,” besides three on-campus drop off bins and the recycling of chemicals from labs, no funding exists in the budget

With a growing student body, the need for recycling is increasing.

Half of students surveyed did not know recycling was available, said Amy Volz, director of the recycling program. She hopes that in the future, people will begin to see the importance of recycling and how excited it makes those participating.

“It makes our job so easy because the demand is there,” Volz said. “We’re not forcing anybody to do anything. It really tells me that we are doing the right thing.”

The grant, however, is a one-time gift. Once the year is out, funding will come once again from student fees and fundraising. With a larger number of bins to collect from and volunteers needed, the program will need greater support. The program has submitted a budget for 2005 but has not yet received an answer from the university.

“That’s why it’s critical that the administration seriously think about taking this over. The municipality has made it clear they only want to start up seed funding and they won’t pay for this stuff again,” Volz said.

For more information on recycling in the UAA community, including facts, guidelines and activities, log on to www.uaa.alaska.edu/recycle.

Alaskans generate 6 pounds of trash
per person each day, which exceeds
the national average by 1.6 pounds.