Award: Program began small, now operates 700 sites
■ Continued from Page 1A
difference in small ways. Several
small recycling operations came
and went at the University in the
1970s and early 1980s, but no for
mal campus-wide system was es
tablished.
Then, in the late 1980s, students
in the Survival Center formed a
group with the goal of taking recy
cling to the next level. Kaplan,
who had come to the University in
1988 to receive her teaching cre
dential, established herself as a
prime force in the effort.
"I was working in the EMU as a
custodian at the time, and I was
picking up newspapers and look
ing for a place to put them,” she
says.
In 1989, Kaplan became the stu
dent coordinator of the project and
continued to work with the Uni
versity to increase the amount of
paper recycled, as well as to
heighten awareness about recy
cling. Students from environmen
tal studies classes and other orga
nizations pitched in, entirely on a
volunteer basis.
Around the same time, Jon
Ron lack
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Davis was working his way into a
job with the Pearl Buck Center.
The center had signed a contract
with the University to provide pa
per recycling on campus. Davis or
ganized and managed the short
lived partnership in its first year.
After Pearl Buck defaulted on
its contract sometime in the 1989
90 school year, Davis was left
without a job. He convinced the
University to hire him as a tempo
rary employee, and he continued
the program, recycling 16 tons of
paper a month almost by himself.
“I had just one student helping
me with the placement of the new
collection sites,” Davis says. “It
was a monster challenge.”
By that time, Kaplan and her
gang had put up posters on cam
pus, convinced the law school to
use only unbleached paper and let
many students know that more re
cycling sites were available.
In 1990, Kaplan was hired, and
she and Davis formally joined
forces. Davis handled operations,
while she handled education. In
1991, the recycling program
passed the first of two ballot mea
i/ —
sures to receive ASUO funds.
Now, Kaplan manages three
full-time staffers and 40 student
employees. More than 700 collec
tion sites dot the campus — for pa
per, cardboard, glass and plastic.
The program also collects and ed
ucates on the reuse of various oth
er substances.
Davis, as paper recycling coor
dinator, now oversees the collec
tion of 00 tons of paper a month.
Above and beyond
As National Recycling Coalition
Awards Chair Lisa Skumatz says,
a campus program must show
more than impressive numbers in
order to receive a NRC honor. Six
ty tons of paper and 700 sites are
large numbers indeed, but it was
the less visible aspects of the Uni
versity program that put it over the
top, Skumatz says.
“They kept away from involv
ing just a few and instead involved
the whole campus," she says.
“WeTe all in this together, and
everybody’s kicking in,” Kaplan
says. “The benefits are for every
body.”
Innovations and expansion are
trademarks of the University pro
gram, Director of University of
Colorado Recycling Services Jack
DeBell says. DeBell, whose pro
gram won the NRC award in 1995,
says the University program sets
itself apart by its focus on reduc
ing waste at all levels.
“Nationally, there’s a handful of
schools that are doing the work
that University of Oregon is do
ing,” he says. “In several respects,
it is really setting the pace.”
Other recycling program direc
tors also cited the University pro
gram’s budget as a primary factor
in its excellence. The program re
ceives $234,000 a year, funded
both from the University and
ASUO. In contrast, the UC pro
gram maintains a budget of
$400,000.
Kaplan says the administration
has been supportive, but the pro
gram’s budget has forced her to ad
just.
“We model the [recycling] mes
sage." she says. “We’ve had to be
really resourceful.”
Financially, the program ap
pears to be more of a blessing than
a burden. In 1995-96 alone, the
program saved the University
$141,309 in dumping and hauling
costs. And in the same year, 42
percent of campus waste was re
cycled, a five percent jump from
the year before.
Looking ahead
In an age of severe budget cuts,
the program's future probably
doesn’t include improved finan
cial security. But it does appear to
be secure. Both University Presi
dent Dave Frohnmayer and Vice
President for Administration Dan
Williams pledge their continuing
support, and Kaplan and Davis are
planning ahead.
An increased focus on reducing
waste rather than just recycling it
is already in the works, Kaplan
says.
Winning the NRC award was
nice, of course, Davis says, but
don’t expect the Campus Recy
cling Program to slow down.
“You don’t stop just because
you won an award,” he says.
“There’s a lot of beauty in going
beyond yourself and doing a bet
ter job.”
r**
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