Support needed from students to continue success

By Charles Neiss, The Mirror

It may be every student's duty to recycle, but for Sarah Davis, recycling is her job. Davis holds the newly created student position of Recycling Coordinator for the Drury campus and is a main figure in the continuing push for campus sustainability.

The first major step toward a campus-wide recycling program was made recently with the November 11 opening of a new recycling facility on the Tindle Mills property. Donated dumpsters serve as receptacles for paper, aluminum, plastic and glass at the site just south of Central Street.

Recyclables from Drury students, faculty and staff as well as Central High School have helped fill the new bins. Members of the Midtown community are also welcome to use the facility.

Davis, an environmental studies major, reports a "good response" to the new project so far but emphasizes that continued use is necessary for the recycling effort to continue.

"We need people to use the program and support it to keep it going and growing," said Davis. She points to Think Green! as a large provider of help for the project.

With volunteers from Think Green!, Davis will soon expand the recycling containers in buildings across Drury's campus.

"Many buildings already have paper recycling bins and some aluminum bins, but over the Christmas break, all buildings will have a new centralized set of bins for all materials," said Dr. Wendy Anderson, associate professor of biology and faculty advisor for Think Green!.

Kc Mutchler, co-founder and president of the student organization, is enthusiastic about the latest developments in campus sustainability.

"Sustainability is becoming more than a trend, and it's not difficult, it's just a matter of educating yourself," Mutchler said.

In addition to the new recycling program, Mutchler described plans to introduce more recycled paper around campus and use organic waste from the Commons and CX for compost. She said this would be a great way to reduce landfill waste from Drury's food services.

Anderson said discussions have begun about converting heating, cooling, and light systems in many of Drury's buildings to units that use less energy. She said this would save tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars each year and also reduce Drury's use of electricity provided by coal-burning power plants.

Jonna Shepardson, Facilities Services office coordinator, reports progress in purchasing office supplies friendly to the environment.

"We're using more recycled paper products than ever before, and we're starting to use remanufactured toner cartridges," said Shepardson.

Central Supplies is also making efforts to reduce the need for paper catalogs by accessing product descriptions and ordering online.

"These are small changes that will have a big impact down the road, especially when combined with all the other efforts going on around Drury," said Shepardson.