Centre "garbology" project documents value of recycling DANVILLE, KY - Centre College students recently sponsored a "Garbology Project" to show how much garbage each day could be diverted into recycling. During a campus Activism Day on Friday, April 14, the students publicly sorted 298 pounds of garbage taken from a single residence hall. The students used a giant tarp in a prominent area of the campus, dividing the garbage into piles of recyclable glass, paper, cardboard and metal. The students concluded the project by weighing each category of materials. The recyclable materials that the students found added up to 63 percent of the total garbage sorted. Glass, at 78 pounds, made up more than half of the total weight of recyclable materials. Food scraps that could be composted made the next largest category, at 38 pounds. The remaining categories, in order, were: slick cardboard at 21 pounds, magazines at 10 pounds, plastic and aluminum at nine pounds each, white paper at eight pounds, plastic bags at seven pounds, non-slick cardboard at four pounds, styrofoam at three pounds and newspaper at two pounds. After sorting through nearly 300 pounds of garbage, the students hoped their efforts were a positive step in raising awareness of the necessity of recycling on Centre College's campus. Student leaders of Activism Day and the garbology project included Angela Horner of Springfield, Ohio; Jonathan Swanz of New Albany, Ind.; and Ryan Montgomery of Perryville, Ky. - end -
Communications Office Public information coordinator: Patsi Barnes Trollinger |