Thursday, December 10, 2009

Campus waste management: A photo-essay



Last year the Student Government Association bought a few dozen recycling containers and distributed them around campus. Believe it or not, it's the first time our campus has had outdoor recycling collection. Various departments and units collected recyclables in their buildings with hallways containers, some official, some improvised.



One September day as I was walking to school, I saw physical plant workers hauling away these gray trashcans from the Student Center plaza. These cans had been in place for less than a year, much-needed replacements for beat-up wood-paneled trash-drum corrals whose tenure on campus was about the same length as mine.



The gray cans were being replaced with these shiny new green ones. A couple of months later, the green ones still haven't made it everywhere. It's possible the replacement program was curtailed because a new protocol was being put into place ...



These dual-opening customized bins made a sudden appearance just a couple of weeks ago. And they followed an early-semester edict that all recycling containers in building hallways were to be removed because of unsightliness. Only a few of the blue student-purchased bins still can be found.



Just this week I've started to see these black barrels appearing in some indoor locations. It looks like the final step in the waste collection strategy is finally in place, and it only took four iterations in less than twelve months to get it done! And the emphasis on campus image hasn't gone unnoticed by student wags. This sign appeared on the bike rack by the cafeteria a little while back:



"For the sake of better aesthetics for the UCA campus, we would appreciate it if you parked your bikes in rainbow order."

1 comment:

T said...

Other than the obvious irony of the waste involved in implementing recycling programs (honestly, I'd been concerned about the replacement replacements, myself), I am rather glad that it is finally convenient to recycle during the daily grind.

Also, the sign posters seemed to have more than one up their sleeves. Apparently Irby became "Bubble Chair Accessible" in lieu of the blue wheelchair signs outside.