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| Plan for the 'recyclable plastics' bins to be put around the campus. |
One of the concrete tasks I've been asked to do while here is develop a policy/system for Xavier University regarding their solid waste management.
(solid waste n., not crap, as I originally thought when the Director of the Engineering Resource Center initially brought it to my attention. More... rubbish, including but not limited to: paper, plastic, metal, organic stuff, yard stuff, toxic stuff, and other stuff.)
The situation here is a joke. I've been spoilt by the University of Auckland: at XU the extent of their policy to date has been a working paper that was written three years ago and the implementation of blue and green bins dotted around the campus labelled 'biodegradable' and 'non-biodegradable'.
But no one knows what goes where, and as a result both bins are used for general waste. Not that it matters, because the contents of both bins are transported and dumped into the same local city dumpsite. There are no recycling systems in place; cut tree branches are discarded in an unused concrete plot on campus; toxic waste from chemistry and medicine labs are thrown down the sink where it mingles with storm-water.
The 'team' working on this comprises of four ex-students at university in their twenties, but there are no logistical structures in place, funding for anything (like someone to sort through the non/bio-degradable waste), or even labels/pictures on the bins so students know what goes where.
(One of) the worst parts is that XU is considered a front-runner in developing these sort of projects for sustainable development, but the whole enterprise is under-manned, under-researched, under-funded, and lacking in cohesion across the different bases (i.e: the Engineering Resource Center is responsible for choosing the type of bin for recycling/non-recycling, but another department is responsible for the labelling that goes on the front depicting what goes where.)
The initial framework for the policy was supposedly due in November 2010 so I've rolled up my sleeves and I've gotten amongst it; looked at various places on the site and am attending a forum next week on students' views on (what little there is on) the project. Hello, policy drafting! Hello, memo writing! Am trying not to get side-tracked (hello, Times' article on asian parenting styles) but am pleased with the progress made. It's good, being able to help fix things.
But no one knows what goes where, and as a result both bins are used for general waste. Not that it matters, because the contents of both bins are transported and dumped into the same local city dumpsite. There are no recycling systems in place; cut tree branches are discarded in an unused concrete plot on campus; toxic waste from chemistry and medicine labs are thrown down the sink where it mingles with storm-water.
The 'team' working on this comprises of four ex-students at university in their twenties, but there are no logistical structures in place, funding for anything (like someone to sort through the non/bio-degradable waste), or even labels/pictures on the bins so students know what goes where.
(One of) the worst parts is that XU is considered a front-runner in developing these sort of projects for sustainable development, but the whole enterprise is under-manned, under-researched, under-funded, and lacking in cohesion across the different bases (i.e: the Engineering Resource Center is responsible for choosing the type of bin for recycling/non-recycling, but another department is responsible for the labelling that goes on the front depicting what goes where.)
The initial framework for the policy was supposedly due in November 2010 so I've rolled up my sleeves and I've gotten amongst it; looked at various places on the site and am attending a forum next week on students' views on (what little there is on) the project. Hello, policy drafting! Hello, memo writing! Am trying not to get side-tracked (hello, Times' article on asian parenting styles) but am pleased with the progress made. It's good, being able to help fix things.
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