Pilot Recycling FAQs
1. What facilities are part of the pilot program?
Right now, the following buildings are included in the pilot program:
Silvio O. Conte Medical Research Building (K)
School of Medicine Instructional Building (L)
Talbot (T)
As of February 6th, the Sustainability Committee is also working to add A building, Goldman School of Dental Medicine (G building), and the Evans Biomedical Research Center (X building) to the pilot in the next two months.
2. When can I join the pilot?
As soon as you are able to schedule a walk-through of your office/department with Facilities Management, and find a location for your tote. Because Facilities Management’s time is limited, we ask that you coordinate with the other liaisons in your building to do one big walkthrough where possible. Please contact the Sustainability Committee to set up a time with the liaisons in your building for a walkthrough.
3. Where do I get the flyers, posters, and information I need?
The Sustainability Committee has created a number of social marketing materials that you can use in your educational efforts, and you can find them here. You may also find a few additional ideas in the Sustainability Forum.
4. What am I supposed to do with my co-workers?
Our hope is that you can educate them about recycling, and encourage them to use the recycling tote on your floor. The social marketing materials can help, but the reason we’ve asked you to be involved is because you know your co-workers better than we do, and you know how they work.
5. How many totes can I get for my office?
We’re really looking at a one tote per floor idea, unless we determine that your office in particular recycles more material than one tote can reasonably handle. The beauty of a pilot program is that we get to work out the kinks with the first few buildings and refine the schema over time.
6. My bin wasn’t full when the janitor checked on it, but it is now/the janitor didn’t take the bin away, and now it’s full – what do I do?
If you need your tote emptied, but the janitorial staff didn’t take it, call Control at 8-4144 (they are on-board with this procedure), and they will dispatch a janitor to take your bin away immediately.
7. My tote was taken away to be emptied, but I didn’t get anything back.
If you haven’t gotten a new, empty tote to replace the full one, call Facilities Management at 8-4211 to get a new tote, or call Control. Alternately, if the campus is short on bins for some reason, you might want to save a sizable cardboard box (like a box from Office Depot, for example) as a bridge “tote” to use until Facilities Management can get a new tote to you.
8. I’m concerned about rodents or odors coming from our tote, especially if we are recycling soda cans/bottles.
The great aspect of single-stream recycling is the convenience, but odors and rodent issues can be a problem if people aren’t careful. To ensure they aren’t a problem, please rinse out soda cans or food containers before recycling them. There is a ‘please rinse your cans‘ poster/decal available for download from the social marketing materials page. Bottles don’t have to be rinsed outrageously, but a quick rinse gets rid of most of the food particles and odor potential.
