Recycling is an essential part of protecting our environment, and Colorado Mesa University (CMU) should be leading the way in this area.
Unfortunately, the truth is that CMU falls short in its recycling efforts. If the school wants to live up to its environmental responsibilities, it needs to step up its recycling game.
The first issue is the lack of places to recycle on campus. While there are plenty of bins in the buildings, they often get mixed in with trash because there are only a few recycling receptacles that the city can pick up from on campus. These places are the University Center, Mav Center and some dorms. While they are in heavily trafficked areas, they are not enough.
If CMU wants to truly make an impact on the environment, then there needs to be more places to recycle located throughout the campus. This would make it easier for those who pick up trash and recycling to actually sort them correctly, and it would help to reduce the amount of recyclable material that ends up in landfills.
The second issue is that most of the recycling on campus is mixed in with trash. This means that the recycling is not being sorted properly, because the people cleaning the building often don’t want to walk across campus to put them in the right place. If custodians were to take that on, they would also need to carry a large amount of bins because they are not equipped with a separate cart to put recycling in.
CMU needs to make sure that the recycling is properly separated from the trash and that it is collected and sent to the appropriate recycling centers.
The university also needs to educate its students, faculty and staff about the importance of recycling. This can be done through various forms of media, such as posters, emails and social media campaigns. The goal is to create an understanding of why recycling is important, what can be recycled and how to properly sort and store recyclables. This education will go a long way towards helping CMU reach its environmental goals.
While there have been environmental initiatives on campus, they are usually pushed by students. Student involvement is a great tool to have, but the university itself needs to think about how to improve on their wastefulness.
The city of Grand Junction recently started a new recycling program and that can be used as a good example of where to start. If CMU wants to live up to its environmental responsibilities, then it needs to make a concerted effort to improve its recycling program. By taking the aforementioned steps, CMU would be able to make a real impact on the environment, and it would be setting an example for other universities to follow. It’s time for CMU to take responsibility for its role in protecting the environment.
