The April 22 Earth Day is commonly known as a day during which people across the US celebrate the planet and work to conserve its natural resources. However, many may not know there is an International, or equinoctial, Earth Day celebrated in March.
International Earth Day, March 20, marks the change of seasons across the globe. International Earth Day presents an opportunity to increase environmental awareness.
Cardboard, paper and aluminum cans are among the most popular recycled materials at Ohio University. Andrew Ladd, the manager of the Recycling and Refuse Center, said pollution can be reduced when virgin materials aren’t being used to create new products.
Currently, there is a 59 percent recycle rate at Ohio University, Ladd said. The goal recycle rate of 2016 is 80 percent. Another surprising statistic is that the lowest recycle recovery rates come from the residence halls. Their recovery rate is 20 percent.
Some students, however, are particularly involved in recycling on campus. Sarah Maj, a senior studying environmental geology and an employee of the Recycling and Refuse center, occasionally cleans out old buildings or vacated professors’ offices. She then recycles any eligible materials found in them as part of her job.
“If it’s something we deem reusable, we donate it,” Maj said.
Maj mentions that certain plastics and glass materials aren’t easily biodegradable. When these materials end up in the landfill, they just remain there for incredibly long periods of time.
With this in mind, Maj said she encourages other students to participate in recycling. If she sees a student throw away something that can be recycled, she sometimes reminds them of the many outlets OU’s campus has for recycling a variety of different items.
“I don’t really think there is a reason why you wouldn’t want to recycle,” Maj said, “There’s a million different reasons why you should.”
One of these reasons is that companies sometimes can even pay for recycled material.
Accurate IT works with the Recycling and Refuse center when it comes to recycling old electronics equipment. The company will sometimes pay clients for their old laptops or other computers. But, the closest location is in Columbus.
The company collects these used or broken electronics from multiple partners, such as OU, and pulls any working or reusable pieces from the discarded gadgets.
“Our goal is to educate our clients about all the products that can be recycled and divert them from going to landfills,” said Jack Knapp, the director of client relations at Accurate IT in Columbus.
Knapp said the recycling of unwanted equipment can be beneficial to local areas, but it can be even more beneficial to the global environment as a whole.
When an old, broken electronic can be turned into a new, usable item, pollution from industry production can go down. More recycling essentially means less pollution is being emitted into the environment.
“Recycling one ton of paper saves 17 trees and 5,000 gallons of water,” Ladd said.
@TiffanyTouville
tt315212@ohiou.edu
