VCU, Richmond recycling more; what about dorms?

Recycling long has been a necessity in preserving the environment. The amount of material recycled is growing each year in Richmond and VCU, but some dorm residents think more could be done to accommodate recycling.

According to Darlene Mallory, support services manager of the City Clean Commission, recycling bins in Richmond are provided only to single-family homes and apartment buildings that have four or less units. Larger apartment buildings and condominiums, like those surrounding campus and the dorms, cannot receive recycling bins because there is no program to accommodate them.

“We still have a long way to go to get people to recycle; (education) is the key,” Mallory said. “I do think Richmond will become more environmentally friendly than it is now. We want more people to recycle and compost.”

The idea to extend VCU’s recycling efforts to the streets of campus has been floating amongst VCU officials. Whether the proper economic and political resources will become available is unforeseeable. Mallory said if VCU could provide this effort, it would help the city immensely and cut back on the need for street cleaning.

“I would love to see recycling bins on the streets of Richmond. That is something to look in to,” Mallory said.

While new recycling units have become a presence around VCU and in front of some dorms, some dorm residents say VCU could do more to help them recycle. Aileen Painter, an arts foundations major and Rhoads Hall resident, says she sometimes uses the recycling cans in the trash room inside her dorm but VCU could make it easier to recycle inside her dorm.

Painter said students might recycle more if VCU put “recycling bins in the actual dorm (rooms) and then (residents) just take that to the trash room.”

“A lot of people aren’t going to go to the trash room specifically to recycle,” Painter said.

Elementary education major and Johnson Hall resident Maya Cox said individual recycling bins for dorm residents would be impractical.

“I think it would be a cool idea,” Cox said. “The only problem would be where on the street would you put all the bins at the end of the day.”

Cox said she has not seen any recycling cans inside her dorm.

“There’s a door that says ‘trash and recycling,’ but if you go behind that, it’s just three big trash cans,” Cox said. “I’m not quite sure where the mysterious recycling bin is.”

Cox said it would be easier for her to recycle if the school would provide recycling bins next to all the trash cans.

Despite what some students see as setbacks to recycling in the dorms, recycling is increasing at VCU and in Richmond.

Last year, 5,993 tons of recyclable material were collected from the 2,873 bins around Richmond, which is 171 tons more than in 2006. Also, nearly 393 tons of material were taken to drop-off points around Richmond, which is 44 tons more than in 2006.

VCU recycled approximately another 1,100 tons of material by using the bins distributed around campus. In October, 25 new bins were placed around campus in order to bolster the amount of recyclable material by another 440 tons. In 2007, VCU and the greater Richmond area recycled 7,485 tons of material.