Guest post: the greening of AEPi, Part 2
Guest post from Ari Epstein, a SAGE Ambassador and a fourth year in the College. Click here for part one of the series.
Once the school year began and more fraternity brothers returned to campus, I shifted my focus to fraternity-wide events like socials, parties, and the like. I often saw tons of aluminum cans and paper cartons lining the floors of rooms in which the fraternity hosted social activities, so I designated an old trash bin to be used only for recycling. I taped one of the SAGE recycling tip sheets to one side of the bin, while the other side has taped-on letters spelling "RECYCLING!". I also tried to avoid the unpleasant task of resorting recycles and non-recyclables during party clean-up shifts by placing recycling containers only where they are in highest demand. In order to avoid a space problem, I tried not to place recycling and garbage bins in the same rooms. Therefore, I placed recycling bins in the rooms where refreshments are served in recyclable containers, while I placed only garbage bins in the areas only serving refreshments in disposable cups.
Once the school year began and more fraternity brothers returned to campus, I shifted my focus to fraternity-wide events like socials, parties, and the like. I often saw tons of aluminum cans and paper cartons lining the floors of rooms in which the fraternity hosted social activities, so I designated an old trash bin to be used only for recycling. I taped one of the SAGE recycling tip sheets to one side of the bin, while the other side has taped-on letters spelling "RECYCLING!". I also tried to avoid the unpleasant task of resorting recycles and non-recyclables during party clean-up shifts by placing recycling containers only where they are in highest demand. In order to avoid a space problem, I tried not to place recycling and garbage bins in the same rooms. Therefore, I placed recycling bins in the rooms where refreshments are served in recyclable containers, while I placed only garbage bins in the areas only serving refreshments in disposable cups.
Overflowing recycling bin next to a trash can after a recent AEPi party
As the pictures demonstrate, not only do AEPi members spend less time sorting during clean-up shifts, but, in the rooms where I provided garbage and recycling bins without compromising space, party patrons generally sorted items without issue. Even more, other AEPi members donated old towels to use as mops and cleaning rags instead of paper towels. Since O-Week when we started using the towels, we have yet to use more than 1 roll of paper towels during four different cleaning shifts that covered nearly 4,000 square-feet of space.
A greener clean-up at AEPi
AEPi is committed to being a model for how other campus organizations can become more sustainable. To learn more about there efforts, contact Ari at aepstein11@uchicago.edu.
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