The University of Washington wanted to find out how much
garbage is actually garbage. On April 11, about 40 volunteers dressed up in
their cover-up suits, rubber gloves and joined a sorting team to sort through
over 1,300 tons of trash.
This event was to explore how much compostable and
recyclable materials are still being thrown away on campus, and this event has
may people’s interests growing more and more each year.
Bags of trash were emptied onto tables and volunteers sifted
through materials in search of compostable material, cans, bottles, paper and
other recyclable materials. The party-like atmosphere included popular music,
sorting games and challenges (king5.com).
When all was said and done, the teams found that 51 percent
of the garbage was compostable, 20 percent could be recycled and 29 percent was
actually garbage.
The first “Trash-In” took place on campus back in 1970 to
show how much waste was associated with students. These students and faculty
members collected trash from around campus and sorted it into categories. The
recycled materials were returned to the original producers for reprocessing. It
was from this even that these recycling programs began.
Staring on Earth Day, April 20, 2012, hi-tech, solar-powered
kiosks will be on campus to collect composting, recycling and garbage. The
University of Washington will be the first university nationwide to use this
system to capture all three waste types in an outdoor public area (king5.com).
If you have any questions of what should be recycled or
thrown out, please let us know and call us at 718-416-1656.
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