Ken Williams, chemistry senior, started the Repurposing Club on campus to promote individual efforts to improve the environment.
The club began last semester but recently presented a bill to Student Senate to kickstart their first project-recycling in dorms. The bill asked for $784.
The Repurposing Club’s plan was to purchase 200 recycling bins and distribute one to each room in United Methodist Hall, putting a recycling program into effect by the end of February.
“We have to change our consumeristic American lifestyle, but even small things can make a difference,” Williams said. “Recycling in your room isn’t hard, so that will be our first pilot program. Hopefully it will catch on and spread to the other dorms.”
The proposition passed in Senate, but SGA President Nic Rhodes vetoed the bill Feb. 2, saying senators needed more time to discuss it to ensure SGA’s budget is spent to best benefit the student body.
“The pilot program requires a volunteer base of OCU students to take the recycling out on a regular basis, and the current interest in such a task is totally unknown,” Rhodes said. “Additionally, the only people that have approached me about the volunteer program are seniors, and, therefore, once we enter into the next school year, there is some concern that the volunteer program will dissipate and the whole effort would have been for naught.”
The club’s original proposition said each room in Methodist Hall would receive a bin with an instructional card saying which materials are recyclable and which days they should put their bin outside for pickup. Williams or another member of the club would pick up all of the recycling once a week and dump it in the campus recycling dumpster behind the Caf.
“Facilities already said they are willing to get another recycling dumpster if we collect too much for one,” Williams said. “They are willing to help but don’t have enough manpower to pick up recycling separately from trash. This process has to be student-driven.”
Rhodes said he suggested a smaller pilot program as an alternative plan to the senators. He wants to test the idea on one floor of Methodist Hall, using a smaller percentage of the budget.
“This will allow the Repurposing Club the opportunity to put together a report of the program and request funding, should it be successful, later in the semester,” Rhodes said.
The recycling bins are a great idea, and they need to happen now, said Paige Konger, acting senior.
“The natural world is struggling at our hands,” she said. “We need everyone, no matter where they fall on the political divide, to come together and address this issue. Recycling bins make it easier for students to do their part at OCU.”
Some students are already reacting to Rhodes’s veto. Arrash Allahyar, cell and molecular biology senior, sent an email to all students in the Honors Program, asking them to email student senators about the veto. He also encouraged students to attend Senate meeting on Feb. 8.
At the Senate meeting, the veto was sustained on a unanimous vote.
Last October, WalletHub compared America’s 100 largest cities based on 20 “green” indicators. Oklahoma City ranked 99th on the list, according to their results.
Williams said he hopes the club’s efforts will help make people more aware of the issue.
“Oklahoma City has a bad recycling problem, and it’s so sad that we don’t do more when we have access to the same technology as greener cities,” Williams said. “As a global community, we live at 1.6 times the rate of natural resources. The population won’t drop, so we need to change the way people are living.”
Any student can join the Repurposing Club by joining their Facebook group, OCU Repurposing Club.
Leave a Reply