PSU Recycles

I was wandering around Cramer trying to find the Career Center when I noticed a room that said "PSU Reuse Room." I stopped and asked someone if they knew anything about the room and they sent me to the Sustainability and Recycle program located in the urban planning building. There I met Kelli Martin, the graduate assistant at PSU Recycles. Kelli told me that the mission of PSU recyles is as so: 1. Reduce the total amount of garbage and recyclable materials PSU generates. 2. Eliminate recyclable materials found in the garbage through student, faculty, & staff education. 3. Increase departmental participation in campus recycling. 4. Efficiently collect and transport recyclable materials from buildings to collection sites. Her job is to collect data, monitor material flow, and assist in education and outreach about recycling here at PSU.

Her boss, Roshelle Hall, is the Recruitment Coordinator. She delegates tasks as well as oversees all the employees. Rachelle is out on maternity leave right now. An associate of Kelly's, Honore Depew, is the Education and Outreach Specialist. He is in charge of things like in-class training, and he oversees a group of classified recyclers who collect the recycling from all the residence halls, as well as some student buildings. I asked Kelly why she was interested in sustainability and recycling as a career, and she responded that she liked that it was a budding field, with opportunities for new jobs. She expressed that it was an outlet for being an agent of change, which she was most interested in being. However, she also expressed that progress is slow, because it is difficult to get every single person to change behavior they are so used to doing.

She told me about a few different programs that PSU Recycles is involved with, such as Chuck It For Charity, and Recyclemania, which are used to kick start recycling at the beginning and end of every year. She told me that PSU Recycles used to be a student club, until it was adopted into Facilities and Planning quite some time ago.