Photo Editors: Students will be helping with cardboard recycling between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at all residence hall loading docks beginning Aug. 21. CU Recycling is in contact with students by radio and can help arrange photos at (303) 492-8307.
For the fourth year, CU Recycling will be ready to collect and recycle empty cardboard boxes when University of Colorado at Boulder students begin moving into campus residence halls on Aug. 21.
"It's a great way to introduce new students to recycling on campus while cutting down on waste," said Marianne Moulton, assistant director of the CU Environmental Center and coordinator of the recycling effort.
"Over 5,000 students will be moving in with all their belongings," Moulton said. "We expect tens of thousands of boxes from all the computers, printers and bicycles -- and we are prepared to recycle all of them."
Starting Aug. 21, staff and student volunteers will be on hand to help collect empty corrugated cardboard boxes at the loading docks of all CU-Boulder residence halls. The recycling effort will continue every day for the following two weeks while the students unpack and get settled.
During last year's move-in, from Aug. 24 through Sept. 5, incoming CU-Boulder students recycled 42,300 pounds of corrugated cardboard. The recycling program diverted 500 cubic yards of cardboard from campus dumpsters and eliminated the need for more than 150 trash truck pickups, Moulton said.
Recycling more than 21 tons of cardboard during move-in not only avoided disposal costs, but also conserved the equivalent of 360 40-foot trees, 148,050 gallons of water and 86,750 kilowatt hours of electricity, according to Moulton. It also eliminated 1,270 pounds of air pollution.
The amount of cardboard recovered last year represented a 60 percent increase over 1999 when about 26,000 pounds of corrugated cardboard was collected, Moulton said. It is estimated that 90 percent of the available cardboard was recovered in 2000 and a similar amount is expected this year.
The CU Recycling program is a partnership of the University of Colorado Student Union, Facilities Management and the Department of Housing.