Reclaiming Recycling at Oxy

As many of my fellow classmates have noted in their blogs, the current recycling program at our college is uninspiring and unacceptable for any university, let alone one that claims its school colors to be black, orange and "green" on the front page of its website. As a member of the group working on raising awareness and improving recycling on our campus, I have been given an eye-opening lesson into the disfunction that presently is our on-campus recycling system. As others in my group have mentioned, many popular and perfectly recyclable items (all to-go containers, Green Bean plastic cups, etc) on campus are not accepted by Oxy's designated recycling company, SoCal Recycling. Not only does this company not recycle these items but if a bag of recycling contains to many of these types of materials, then they will simply throw the whole bag away. It is shameful and hypocritical that Oxy calls itself a "green oasis" in urban Los Angeles and yet neglects as basic a sustainability principle as recycling by selecting a bare-bones recycling partnership with a company that only takes CRV materials. We can and need to do better! Luckily there are many within our faculty, staff and student body who want to do the right thing and support a top-teir recycling program at our college. Both Housing and Facilities go above and beyond in their efforts to make our current broken system work as best they can. We need further student engagement in the disposal of our own personal waste and stronger leadership at the administrative level to guide our school toward the goal of environmental sustainability. We cannot simply rest on our school's historic progressive ideals and actions. We NEED a 21st-century recycling system at our school if Oxy is going to remain a leader in environmental advocacy and social justice.