Recycling Success
By IAN FASNACHT
(Defiance, Oh) The pickup trucks rolled out on Friday, September 27, 2013 as Defiance College Recycling (DCR) lives up to the expectations established for this academic school year. Over the summer, DCR received the Keep America Beautiful Grant sponsored by Coca-Cola which gave the program 24 new recycling bins. The organization applied for the grant last spring and has used the new bins to expand their efforts to the greater campus.
The Keep America Beautiful Grant allowed the program to expand their impact by 66% and cover all of the academic buildings on campus! The expansion has also allowed the DCR to keep more recyclable items out of the trash. In the first two weeks DCR collected just over 3,000 plastic bottles, 130 glass bottles and 400 aluminum cans.
Compared to last year, this is a huge improvement in volume. Last year, after two weeks DCR collected just under 2,300 plastic bottles and 350 aluminum cans. The organization says glass was collected but not counted last year.
The increase in volume the organization contributes to the combination of a great volunteer team, the corporation of Defiance College maintenance staff and their community partnership with Werlor Waste and Management Inc.
DCR has several administrative challenges with the new grant, but like any other expansion they are working through the growing pains. DCR has also increased their advertisement this semester by sponsoring a table with ecology club at Constitution Day and making signs out of non-recyclable bottle caps.
Project Manager Michelle Bulriss says, “One of DCR’s goals this year is to advertise our program by using art and creativity.” She continues, “By using recyclable items, DCR is able to spread awareness and reuse materials.” The group did not want to spoil any future surprises, but said they had many ideas on how to draw attention to the amount of recycling they collect weekly.
DCR is in its second full year as a program, and with the generous donation by Keep America Beautiful and Coca-Cola, the program has recycled their success from last year and is building on everyday.
