by Sarah Tarver
News editor
Recycling dates back to 400 BC, but the current trend started with a symbol created in the late 1960s.
Here at Southeastern, the recycling program is still new. According to the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, in 2010 the Department of Energy awarded Choctaw Nation with an Energy Efficiency Community Block Grant to create a recycling center here in Durant.
The Campus Sustainability Committee has partnered up with Choctaw Nation to jump-start a recycling program on campus. Choctaw has agreed to pick up recycling from our on campus site every two weeks.
The Campus Sustainability Committee website, http://homepages.se.edu/scsc/, has information on what is being accepted at the moment, which “includes all types of office paper, colored paper, newspaper, envelopes, magazines, catalogs, etc.
All these materials can be mixed in a common container. We recommend that the material be stacked into a cardboard box as flat as possible to save space and reduce the number of boxes needed.”
Other acceptable materials include shredded paper in plastic bags, and cardboard boxes, both corrugated and non-corrugated boxes flattened out and stacked in one large box. All containers need to be sealed so nothing can fall or fly out.
There are other items listed, but since the program is still new, paper and cardboard are primarily the materials being picked up. Dr. Karl Frinkle said that eventually the program will grow to the point that more of the recyclables will be accepted.
According to http://homepages.se.edu/scsc/, “The Physical Plant has allocated use of a shed to hold materials.
The shed is located on the small paved lane that leads to SE’s Grounds facility…The recycling shed is on the right, enclosed in a chain-link fence, and marked with signs. The gate will be open between 7:30 and 4:30 during business days.”
Currently the program is still small and relies completely on volunteers. The buildings that have representatives at this time include the Math Building, the Biological Sciences Building, Henry G. Bennett Memorial Library, Morrison biuilding, Ancillary Services and the Aviation Building.
If anyone or any student group would like to adopt a building or has any other ideas that the sustainability committee can use, more information can be found on the Campus Sustainability Committee website, http://homepages.se.edu/scsc/, or by talking to any of the members of the Campus Sustainability Committee, Dr. Tim Patton (chair), Dr. Karl Frinkle, Dr. Charles Matthews, Dr. Blythe Duell, George Jacox or Michael Stout.