This summer Dartmouth Recycles!, the College's programto promote recycling, could soon place 12 new recycling bins in the hallways of Mass Row at a cost of about $5,000.
The move could get the College's recycling agenda back on track for the first time in two years by taking bins out of dormitory basements and placing them closer to students' doors, Director of Dartmouth Recycles! William Hochstin said.
"It would be easier on the students to deposit their trash in these collection bins instead of having to haul it all the way downstairs," Hochstin said.
A sample of the new four-holed bins recently arrived from Waste Warrior Inc., a bin manufacturer in Ontario, Canada. If Dartmouth Recycles! approves of the sample, it will go ahead with the plan for Mass Row.
The cost of the new bins is the greatest hurdle the program must overcome before they can install the boxes across campus, according to a proposal written by Dartmouth Recycles! intern Chris D'Addario.
The proposal said the new program should increase the amount of material students recycle, but did not included projections for yield increases.
Last year, the College sent 1,500 tons of waste to landfill. At the current rates of $43 per ton for landfill and $76.90 per ton for trucking fees, recycling cost the College $179,850 last year.
The new containers should make students more aware of recycling because the new containers are highly visible, Dartmouth Recycles! intern Marshall Chase wrote in an electronic-mail message.
But students will not be able to place all their recyclables in the new bins, Chase wrote.
"We are only collecting four types of recyclables in the Waste Warriors, plus aluminum cans, on each hallway," Chase wrote.
Another limitation is the bins can not be placed in dorms like the Choates or in fraternities, sororities, undergraduate societies and affinity houses without violating the fire codes, according to Chase.
Despite these drawbacks, Chase expressed his confidence and approval of the project.
"I expect the Waste Warrior system will prove to be cost-effective, and will make a significant improvement in the amount recycled in dorms," Chase wrote.
Dartmouth Recycles! was founded in 1988 in an effort to prevent as much of the College's waste as possible from going to landfills. The group was spurred by increasing landfill costs and environmental concerns.
Although Dartmouth currently ranks as one of the most effective colleges in its recycling efforts, there has been no notable improvement in the amount of recycled waste for the past two years.
The College currently recycles approximately 35 percent of its waste stream. At this rate, the program is 16 percent short of its 1988 proposed goal of recycling 51 percent of the wastes.
