Flyers, beer cans and red solo cups.
These are all used in large sums at Fairfield University, but what happens when the event has passed, and the party is over?
“A lot of things are dictated by the town and the state,” said James Fitzpatrick ’70, assistant vice president of student affairs. “For several months this school year, we have been using the process of single stream recycling,” he adds.
Single-stream recycling is a process that is simple to use for the consumer and requires that everything recyclable be placed in the same bin.
Recyclable items consist of: paper, plastic containers, glass products, flattened cardboard, empty cardboard food containers, empty cartons, metal and aluminum. Trash and other items that cannot be placed in these bins for recycling include containers contaminated by food, Styrofoam, batteries, electronics, light bulbs and plastic bags.
According to Zachary Gross ‘12, director of recycling for the Leaders of Environmental Action at Fairfield (LEAF): “Once the paper goes off campus, it is taken to the Fairfield transfer station. Then the recyclables are collected and compacted together. They are brought to a recycling center in Stamford, CT, which then goes to a larger recycling center in Danbury, CT and then it’s shipped overseas to China.”
For the past 10 years, Fairfield University has strengthened its efforts in being “environmentally conscious and green.” Before single-stream recycling, segregated recycling was used, which required the consumer to separate all recyclable items into their own bins. This meant all aluminum cans in one, plastic bottles in the other and paper in another.
According to Fitzpatrick, this change to single stream recycling was due to the combination of costs, efficiency and “in short terms … because it’s simpler.”
Fitzpatrick explained, “There are some question marks about how it initiates the student body into good recycling habits.” He adds that single-stream recycling does save time, but he doesn’t think it forces students to really consider the concept of recycling.
“Not all of Fairfield has made the proper changes to [single-stream] recycling receptacles,” said LEAF member Alexandra Fylypovych ‘14. “Segregated recycling bins are still around campus and this confuses people,” she adds.
But both Gross and Fylypovych agree that this change is for the better. “Everything, all recyclables, can go together,” said Gross. “We can also recycle more now in the single-stream, and we can take all kinds of plastic.”
Dana August ’11, co-director of LEAF and leader in this effort, reported to The Stag Spotlight that single-stream recycling will result in a 30 to 35 percent increase in the total tonnage of recyclables that are taken off campus.
This year, though the number is still being adjusted, the method of figuring out the rate of recycled material has changed.
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