In an effort to help the USC community go green, TrojanHousing enrolled its North University Park apartment complexes in the city-sponsored Multi-family Residential Recycling Program this month. The program, developed by the Solid Resources Citywide Recycling Division of the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, provides 90-gallon recycling bins and a weekly pickup service free of charge to eligible residences. As of Oct. 31, 5,600 multifamily buildings citywide have used the program. The city's pilot program, a precursor to the Multi-family Residential Recycling Program, diverted 14,000 tons of waste from landfills to recycling centers over the three-year trial period, said program manager Cathleen Chavez.
To qualify for the program, buildings must house multiple tenants, contain five or more units of living space and use a private trash collection service rather than the one sponsored by the city, Chavez said. Tenants usually contact the Bureau of Sanitation if they want their building to institute the program, but the property owner or property manager must grant approval in order for it to take effect, she said.
City officials in charge of the Multi-family Residential Recycling Program contacted TrojanHousing administrators and suggested they establish the program after a few students living in university-owned apartments expressed a desire to the city to participate. "We knew that the university was trying to improve sustainability [procedures], and I knew that some buildings were eligible," Chavez said. "We worked together to try to figure out which buildings would qualify and which wouldn't."
TrojanHousing Senior Associate Director Chris Ponsiglione said he immediately recognized the benefits of setting up the city-sponsored program in North University Park residences. "The participation in the city program is free, and we want to interact with the city in a positive way. We want to foster that partnership," he said. "We were trying to increase our capacity and ability to recycle more items and to make it easier on the residents to recycle."
Enrollment in the city's recycling program is just one component of USC's efforts to become more environmentally conscious. The university has implemented a campus-wide waste diversion program meant to prevent at least 50 percent of the university's waste from going to landfills, and increased sustainability measures have been put into place in on-campus housing, said Ed Becker, executive director of Environmental Health and Safety.
These procedures include several multi-waste recycling bins in residence halls, motion sensor lighting, environmentally friendly cleaning products and water and power conservation, Ponsiglione said. "I don't know if it's always visible, but the energy that's going into making sure [USC] is a leader in recycling is there," Becker said. Many students, however, are unfamiliar with USC's recycling policies and often turn to groups such as the California Public Interest Research Group for answers, said Shana Rappaport, a member of CalPIRG and a junior majoring in communication.
"The first step the university needs to take in order to improve their system is education. They haven't been publicizing [their policies]," she said. "They may have been doing amazing things, but the students don't know about it." Education is a key aspect of the Multi-family Residential Recycling Program and is one of the services provided to tenants and property managers who participate.
"Everyone receives a reference card that has a list of 'yes' items and 'no' items they can put in the bins. On the back it also lists very commonly used phone numbers for the city," Chavez said. "Supplemental programs [are available] for managers [to help them] keep folks on the path
Source: DailyTrojan.com