Environmental Club celebrates Earth Week, sparks interest in carbon footprint reduction

 

Staff Report

 

The university and the Environmental Club celebrated Earth Week by educating students, faculty and staff on the idea of conservation of the Earth, while introducing them to some of the critters that inhabit it.

The Environmental Club hosts a tent on the quad each year for Earth Week, and, this year, it continued to show its appreciation for Earth by giving away, to students, animal print bracelets, Earth week buttons and stickers, reusable shopping bags, tie-dye shirt making games and free potted plants.

Additionally, the organization showcased a variety of animals from the depths of Alabama. On Wednesday, the Environmental Club had snakes, lizards and frogs at its tent to give students the opportunity to interact with these animals.

Housing and Residence Life and the Environmental Club teamed up this semester, in an effort to promote recycling and to urge students to understand why it is important. Together, they formed Recycle Troy.

Recycle Troy is a joint effort to encourage residence hall students to help reduce waste on campus.

At the beginning of the semester, resident assistants throughout campus were given several bundles of recycling bags. These bundles included enough bags for each room to be able to recycle one bag of materials per week, throughout the semester.

Recycle Troy adopted the City of Troy’s recycling guide, in which it states what types of materials should be recycled. These materials include cardboard, paper, plastic and metal.

Herbert Reeves, Dean of Students, feels strongly about the university’s push to reduce its carbon foot print.

“We recognize the need for recycling and many of our offices do so on a regular basis,” Reeves said.

“We want to actively demonstrate just how much of what we use daily can be recycled.”

Along with the bundle of recycling bags included a schedule for campus pick up. To make the task of recycling more convenient, representatives from Recycle Troy make rounds each school day to collect recycled materials from students’ dorms.

On Mondays, Hamil and Gardner halls get their recycling bags picked up, and on Tuesdays, Shackelford, Pace and Cowart halls see their bags taken.

Alumni and Clements halls, as well as Newman Center, should have their recycling bags set to be taken Wednesday, and all of Trojan Village should have their materials ready on Thursdays.

Recycled materials are picked up from Honors cottage, Paden and Hill Crest houses and sorority and fraternity houses on Fridays.

Recycle Troy encourages students to actively participate in the recycling movement, and advise that each resident of on-campus housing have their recycled materials bagged and ready by 9 a.m. on their dorm’s designated day.

For updates about the university’s ‘green campus’ efforts, visit Recycle Troy’s Facebook page by searching Recycle Troy or contact them on Twitter @Recycle_Troy and #RecycleTroy.

The Environmental Club will wrap up its Earth Week activities on Friday, by collecting recycled bags from around campus and placing them in recycling trailers. This will serve as an example of just how much can be recycled.

Friday will also mark the last day that the Environmental Club will be on the quad.

If you are interested in joining the Environmental Club, contact the organization’s advisor, Elizabeth Ensor, at eensor@troy.edu or its president, Jeremy Duke.

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