Training in trash caps-off Earth Week
Fredonia, N.Y. — April 16, 2008 — To build awareness of what is discarded and the potential for recycling, students at SUNY Fredonia will participate in a “trash dump” on Saturday, April 26, beginning at 2 p.m.
Organized by Sustainability Committee member Dr. Sherri Mason of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the students and Dr. Mason will be appropriately attired in overalls, protective gloves and shoes. During the exercise, most likely not to be a “fresh as a daisy” learning experience, they will sort through what is discarded from a residence hall dumpster in the grove/quad area behind Gregory Hall, separating trash from what can be recycled.
Dr. Mason noted the location was selected specifically to draw student interest and to raise awareness of what can be recycled within the trash stream in residence halls. She added, “We now have over 55 recycling centers across the campus. In one year – less than one year actually – we have been able to create, facilitate and implement an impressive recycling program, but the containers are only as good as the people who use them. We are all part of the problem, but we are also each one of us part of the solution. The purpose of this project is to visually illustrate this point to us all. How much of what we throw away is really, truly, trash?”
Earth Week is being observed at SUNY Fredonia April 19 through 26. Information about the university’s most recent “Go Green” activities can be found on the university’s Go Green website.
