UCF recycling and sustainability

Recently around the globe, there has been a big change in the way humans around the world think about energy and water use. The threat of global warming is looming, and people need to begin altering the way we use our resources. Many changes have taken place around the University of Central Florida to make the property greener and more sustainable, such as adding recycling containers and starting a community garden. All of these events around campus show that students and faculty really care about the environment and that ‘going green’ isn’t just a fad.

UCF started the recycling process in 2005 with a miniscule five percent recycling rate. In 2006, the university entered in RecycleMania, which is a friendly competition and standard for college recycling programs to promote waste reduction activities, which started a spark in the dismal rate raising it to eight percent. As each year goes by the idea of recycling on campus gets more popular, according to last year’s twenty eight percent average. According to the University of Central Florida’s recycling website, UCF Recycles accepts aluminum cans, plastic, mixed paper, wooden pallets, cardboard, hard/soft cover books, magazines, batteries, electronics, and scrap metal and aluminum. Also, each move in/move out session furniture that would be thrown away is donated to the Bithlo/Christmas Neighborhood Center for Families. Once the materials are collected the workers from the physical plant go to every location on campus to retrieve these materials, sort them, and weigh them before the next day. The money from recycling goes towards new equipment for the campus. I think that it’s great for a large university like the University of Central Florida to be able to recycle so many of these materials is and help the needy at the same time.
As I observe the growing amount of recycling containers of all types as I trek across our campus, I’m glad UCF started to take a stand against the growing amount of recyclable items going into the trash. There are bins for aluminum cans, plastic bottles, newspaper, ink cartridges, plastic bags, and cardboard located in every building and location on campus. I feel a sense of pride whenever I see a container that is almost full. This means that many of our 50,000 students are taking the extra step and recycling, when they could have just as easily thrown a recyclable item in the trash. Every game day event I have attended so far, there have been numerous can and bottle recycling containers and they always seem to be full. Imagine how many cans that would have been lying in our landfills! UCF dining services has also started an event that each home game if you bring twelve cans or plastic bottles to a stand outside of Knightro’s you receive a free t-shirt! If that isn’t a great incentive to start recycling, then I don’t know what is.

A lot of students are choosing to live greenly as well, just not in their choice to recycle but in the food they buy and household items they purchase. In my apartment alone, we choose to purchase Clorox’s Green Works household cleaners to use as dish soap and all purpose cleaner. We also chose to go vegan, which is like being vegetarian but with no animal products at all. Cherah Charter states that she “enjoys eating vegan, when it is possible because you feel healthier and you aren’t getting involved in the killing of animals”. During that two week period of time we lived on salads and soy milk and found it difficult to find other protein rich foods to eat, other than meat. There are other ways to support going green such as wearing novelty tees with sayings such as “stop destroying our planet! It’s where I keep all my stuff” and by wearing organically grown cotton t-shirts and hemp clothing.

The university is also seeking other ways to lower the campus’s green house emissions other than just turning out the lights. Many of the changes taking place so far at UCF are mainly building/construction based. There is a thermal energy storage facility that is on track to be finished this semester and will help keep energy costs low by saving the university 700,000 dollars annually! They have been saving water by installing low flow shower heads to all of the showers and using dual flushing toilets. The shuttle system is also a great sustainable addition. I use the shuttle system daily, and the buses come to my off campus apartment complex every fifteen minutes. It saves me time from having to look for a parking spot and allows another driver to have a parking spot I would have taken up. Additionally it saves me the stress from having to drive in the terrible Orlando traffic when it’s time for me to leave. These few changes on a campus this large will save the school thousands of dollars which could be put towards things that students enjoy such as more free events.

Many citizens believe that the only people who recycle and live sustainably are hippies have faith in “peace, love and happiness” or only college students but now that is not the case. 30% of eighteen to thirty year olds don’t recycle anything, which is contrary to the belief that we students are leaders in living greenly. With the change in prices of electricity and with the recession a lot of middle class families are now trying to cut costs by reusing items and cutting off power when not needed. When asked if he recycled, freshman Kyle Stultz replied “My roommate and I have a habit of collecting all of our bottles in our dorm and at the end of each week we take them downstairs to put in the recycling bin. I think recycling is good for the environment and saves resources, so it’s not a big deal to take a little bit of time to do it.” Another freshman Mariah Charter states that “I try to use the recycling bins as much as possible; I walk by them every day so I might as well use them. I love saving money as well and living sustainably for some things lets me do that. My roommates and I don’t use the dishwasher to save on energy costs”. Some people, however; oppose the idea of recycling and think that it is a waste of time and effort. Freshman Ryan Smith explained to me his point of view, “I don’t want to have to pay money to recycle, that right should be just given to us. If recycling on campus makes the tuition higher then I don’t want to be a part of it.”

I think that if we don’t change some of our bad habits now as “energy wasters” that it will truly start affecting the environment we live in. Already carbon dioxide levels are climbing yearly and many species of animals are going extinct because of change in climate and habitat. The University of Central Florida aims to have all of its buildings LEED certified in the future and is putting more money towards being more sustainable and improving its recycling rate. You can call me a hippie but I’m glad the university I’m attending is actually making an effort towards being “green”.







Works Cited
http://www.recycle.ucf.edu/index.htm

http://today.ucf.edu/blog/2009/05/14/raise-the-recycling-rate/

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=783

Outline

I-Going green on UCF campus

A-Introduction
1-World needs to start change
a-polar bears are dying, global warming
2-UCF is involved in process
b-students and faculty care

B-how ucf got involved
a-started when
1-recyclemania
b-what materials recycled/how
1-various materials
2-physical plant does a lot

C-What is being done on campus?
a-recycling bins
1-always filled
b-eco friendly items
1-vegetarian,natural,hemp clothes
c-saving money by recycling
1-building water tower
2-green roof
3-solar panels on tower


D-What students think
a-pro recycling
1-utilize the recycling bins
2-helping the environment
b-con recycling
1-expensive
2-trash is in recycling bins

E-Conclusion
a-why we need to change
1-what will happen
b-plans for future of ucf
1-further recycling

Thesis paragrapgh

Recently around the globe, there has been a big change in the way people around the world think about energy and water use. The threat of global warming is looming, and people need to begin altering the way we use our resources. There have been many changes around the University of Central Florida campus to make it greener and more sustainable, such as adding recycling containers and starting a community garden. All of these events around campus show that students and faculty actually care about the environment and that ‘going green’ isn’t just a fad.

Matrimony Commentary Questions: Alexis Munroe, Kyle Stultz, Pablo Quiroga

1. The commentary is focusing on how men are becoming more involved in the setup of a wedding and other plans involved.

2. The author gives an interesting introduction to the issue by telling of a particular instance in which a guy had devoted as much time perfecting his outfit as his fiance had.

3. The author explains the context of this issue well. They use several people in different professions involved in a wedding to explain their reasoning. This seems to portray a possible apathy towards the subject.

4.The possible causes could be women are getting married older, so they have less time to give to wedding planning. Thus, the men are needed to complete the wedding plan process.

5. The author mentions several tv shows, such as The Bachelor and Bridezillas, that have caused gender roles to shift in society. This would cause the shift in the belief of how a wedding should be planned.

6. The writer wrote this commentary more to tell information, and doesn't show much bias on the topic. They present several instances in which they appear in favor as well as against the issue of wedding planning.

7. The significance that the author sees is that the trend of men not being involved in wedding planning, is now almost the opposite. It appears as though now men are taking an initiative in the process of wedding planning.

Commentary Interview

1. Are you aware of any legislation that causes UCF to go green?
No, I am not aware of any legislation

2. Do you know how long UCF has been recycling for?
I believe they have been recycling for the past 5 or six years

3. Do you think that trash and energy usage has been a problem at ucf before?
Yea I do believe it has

4. Do you know what ucf does after they collect recyclable materials?
I have no idea what they do after they collect the materials

5. What do you think are advantages and disadvantages to recycling and "going green"?
i don't really see any disadvantages but it sure does save a lot of resources to recycle and such

6. What are ways you are "going green"?
Me and my roomate have a habit of recycling all of our bottles and cans

7. Do you know what UCF is aiming for in the future, energy usage wise?
I would assume to tone down its energy useage

8. Do you think that recycling is just a waste of time?
No, I don't think it is a waste of time

Commentary-Letter to a friend

Dear Jessica,

How have you been, it feels like decades since I’ve last seen you! Everything is going great so far at the University of Central Florida! I enjoy going to most of my classes (psychology just kills me) and I think I’m doing okay in all of my classes. Do you remember that travel coffee mug I bought you for your birthday? I hope you’ve used it! I think it’s great how the University of Florida is giving discounts on reusable coffee cups, but I have yet to find a program like that at UCF! I think Einstein Bagel Bros. might have a discount program like that, but I’m not 100% sure. I’ll have to look into it.

The University of Central Florida is taking some initiative towards recycling however! Everywhere I seem to go on campus there are large plastic containers you can put cans, paper, or plastic bottles into. The only problem is that whenever I have an empty can or bottle, I can never find a container to put it in! It’s probably just my unlucky self though, and I feel like nobody else on campus but I would walk around searching for a place to put my trash.

Does UF have the same outlook on recycling? I know it has become very important on their campus, as an example you can get reusable trays you can take with you from the dining halls.UCF I think is far behind in terms of recycling and going green on campus. I believe that we have a lot of catching up to do compared to a lot of the Universities out there.

I think that many of the changes taking place so far at UCF are mainly building/construction based. There is a thermal energy storage facility that is on track to be finished this semester and will help keep energy costs low by saving the university 700,000 dollars annually! They have been saving water by installing low flow shower heads to all of the showers and using dual flushing toilets.

You know that I live off campus with Mariah, so taking the shuttle has really helped out a lot! I save gas and money by not having to drive to school every hour and have the connivance of not having to drive at all! Also, by taking the shuttle to school it saves cars from being on the road, which makes it more Eco- friendly and saves other students who do drive a place to park in one of the crowded parking lots.
I really hope you come to visit me soon! Maybe you can carpool with Danielle one day and you can stay for the weekend! We could walk around the campus and you will see what action UCF is taking with their recycling efforts. I would love to hear what UF is doing as well to make the world a better place for everybody. Hope to see you soon!

Love, Alexis

Going green on Campus-Extension

Recently around the globe, there has been a big change in the way people around the world think about energy and water use. The threat of global warming is looming, and people need to begin altering the way we use our resources. There have been many changes around the University of Central Florida to make it greener and more sustainable, such as adding recycling containers and starting a community garden. All of these events around campus show that students and faculty actually care about the environment and that ‘going green’ isn’t just a fad.

As I observe the growing amount of recycling containers of all types as I trek across our campus, I’m glad UCF started to take a stand against the growing amount of recyclable items going into the trash. There are bins for aluminum cans, plastic bottles, newspaper, ink cartridges, plastic bags, and cardboard located in every building and location on campus. I feel a sense of pride whenever I see a container that is almost full. This means that many of our 50,000 students are taking the extra step and recycling, when they could have just as easily thrown a recyclable item in the trash. Every game day event I have attended so far, there have been numerous can and bottle recycling containers and they always seem to be full. Imagine how many cans that would have been lying in our landfills! UCF dining services has also started an event that each home game if you bring twelve cans or plastic bottles to a stand outside of Knightro’s you receive a free t-shirt! If that isn’t a great incentive to start recycling, then I don’t know what is!