Raising Awareness About Recycling

Hi Kassi,

I am really glad to hear that you are creating awareness within the dorms that is an amazing idea! How about cutting down how many materials you are using to individually mark the containers and instead make a big display with this information? also maybe try to include this information in the weekly newsletter that your school sends out through e-mail? Just some ideas, let me know how this works out for you!

Hi! You've already taken a great first step by partnering with ResLife. I'd encourage you to explore many different avenues for communicating your message. Stickers are a great idea, if you can afford them. I don't know how many you need, but I've had great luck getting reasonably priced stickers by ordering custom bumper stickers (esp. if you use a standard size). Bumper sticker material holds up really well, is easy to clean, and depending on where you put it, can be easy to remove when necessary. I'd also suggest you make a website (ask ResLife to have a link on their website for residents). If you have social media access, you could send occasional "Did you know..." messages (pictures are great) to help people know what they can and cannot recycle. It is helpful if you choose items where the ability to recycle it varies based on the community's program (i.e. Styrofoam food containers and glass are two good ones to start with) because people tend to assume that what they can recycle at home, they can also recycle in their residence hall. I've found people remember best if I also tell them why a particular item cannot be recycled. Your recycler should be able to answer those questions if you are not sure (for example, some places don't recycle glass because, although it is recyclable, they might not live in an area where you have a recycler willing to accept it). Spend a LOT of time at the beginning of the semester teaching people about your program and then remind them occasionally throughout the semester. If you can link reminders to something happening on campus or to the season, that helps people remember. If you can implement a "caught green-handed" incentive for people recycling, you'll create great buzz (although I personally am not a fan of having to bribe people to recycling-- it does work). If you have a mascot, maybe create a short video to promote recycling -- who doesn't love fun mascot videos. One of the best recycling displays I've ever seen was at a conference center... they had freestanding signs in high traffic areas that had two sections... one side had common things that were recyclable at their site, and the other were the things they found in the recycling things that shouldn't be there (like chip bags). You might also see about recruiting people who would help promote recycling on their hall/floor (Eco-Rep?). One thing we did that was popular was make a recycling challenge game where we had a bunch of do-I-or-don't-I-recycle-this items (things that people really aren't sure about) and took it to meetings and had people play (about 10 items). Then, an "recycle-wise" volunteer would go through and quickly tell them what was not correct and why. We "trained the trainer" by playing with the resident assistants and then asking the resident assistants to play the game with their residents at one of their mandatory meeting at the start of the year. If you can make it fun, people are more likely to be engaged. You might want to look up Recyclemania and review their suggestions for promotion. You might find something that would work for your campus. I hope I've given you one or two ideas. Best wishes with your efforts! Please let use know what works for you!

Its great that you are trying to raise awareness about recycling on your campus. It is also amazing that you are an Environmental Studies major like MYSELF ! But a great way to achieve this goal is to simply raise money through your organizations and even get other environmental organizations to help you out. At Spelman College, our organizations are student run and they make great constant efforts to get students engaged and involved in community service and student activism. It is very important to have a strong presence on your college campus, let the student body know what ResLife is, the importance of their mission and your new project!! and continue to remind them about the project and how they can help make it happen. So that is my advice to you - fundraise, promote the project and get students involved. You will be surprised at who would be willing to support! & remember do not give up.