Spring Hill College’s Green Keepers will be hosting events to celebrate and bring awareness to Earth Day, which is April 22.
According to the official website of the Earth Day Network, the goal of the event is to “fundamentally change human attitude and behavior about plastics.” SHC professor Lesli Bordas, the club’s faculty advisor, announced that the Green Keepers’ celebration will take place on April 24, beginning at common hour and lasting beyond. Bordas encourages student involvement: “It should include a petting zoo, farmers market with free produce, kite flying and tie dye.”
Recycling bins are located throughout campus and can be found in essentially every building. By making recycling readily available, SHC encourages students to recycle water bottles and excess papers that would otherwise be thrown into trash cans.
SHC junior Maria Delgado is aware of the damage that failure to recycle can cause: “As a chemistry major, I’m aware of the damage that we are causing our environment every day by not recycling. I’m currently working on my junior seminar which is on synthetic polymers, which makes up everything we touch. I’m growing more aware of the damage they cause and that each polymer needs to be recycled differently.”
It should be noted that the recycling project is not funded by the college, but rather by SHC’s Green Keepers and West Mobile’s Goodwill Easter Seals.
Students should be mindful of the materials that are placed in the bins. Bordas wants to remind students that not all plastics are recyclable in Mobile: “We can only accept number one and number two plastics. All others are considered trash and should not be in our recycling receptacles.”
Bordas went on to warn that “if the amount of non-recyclables is not diminished, the recycling will be discontinued.” Delgado encourages her fellow classmates to not let that happen: “We need to take care of our earth. Not only for ourselves, but for our future generations as well.”
In addition to the recycling of paper and plastics, SHC faculty can now recycle ink and toner cartridges. Mandi Moore, manager of Building Services, made the announcement to faculty earlier this month. The recycling project is unrelated to the project funded by Green Keepers and Goodwill Easter Seals. Rather, it is a partnership with the United Cerebral Palsy organization. In her announcement email, Moore stated, “Alumni Relations have been recycling their cartridges with this program in the past, and we would like to make it a campus-wide effort.” If faculty members are interested, cartridges can be dropped off at Facilities/Operations, Monday through Friday, from 8-4:30 p.m.