Environmental Sustainability Group PDF

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Group assignment Environmental Sustainability...

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Environmental Sustainability Group Research Question: What are some specific changes in reducing plastic waste that we can make on our campus at UK that will initiate change on other campuses as well? Historical Overview: Recycling has changed over the years especially at University of Kentucky. As you walk around the University of Kentucky, you will see very few trash laying around. The University of Kentucky has raised its all-in-one recycling by 8% in 2016 has recycled over 2,274 tons of trash through its recycling program according to the university website. Recycling programs such as the one at UK, help support manufacturing jobs in the United States. Over the years people still do not tend to recycle even though we are running out of resources. It is key that we as human beings to recycle because years from now, we will run out of materials and not be able to survive. In 2018, the University of Kentucky passed on plastic with a new campaign. The campaigns goal is to reduce the impact of single use plastics such as plastic forks and spoons. In 2017-2018, the University of Kentucky used more than 15 million single use plastic beverage containers and nearly 1 million in straws were used on campus, according to uknow.uky.edu . Current Context: Stakeholder Analysis (everyone): Whitley Lemons: A stakeholder for our groups problem would be other college campuses in Kentucky. Our question is what are some specific changes in reducing plastic waste that we can make on campus at UK that will initiate change on other campuses? So this stakeholder is really important to analyze, because we can learn from them. For example, there is a national recycling program competition going around universities and colleges to see who can promote their program the best and have the most recycling. Last year, the only college in Kentucky to compete in the tournament was The University of Louisville. According to RecycleMania, the University of Louisville was ranked 25th and had a 55.8% recycling rate. We can also learn how other college campuses have teamed up with other groups on their campus to accomplish reducing their plastic usage. For example, Western Kentucky University has a recycling program and they have teamed up the WKU Facilities Management group, WKU athletics, WKU Restaurant Group, and other WKU student organizations. So far, Western Kentucky University has been able to divert “3,700 pounds of recyclable waste from landfills.” There was a study done in Houston, Texas, that researched the placement of recycling bins affecting the amount of recycling that went into the bins. The University of Houston found that there were more recycling in the bins that were placed inside of the classrooms than anywhere else around their researching zone. I think this research is very important to look at for our stakeholder group because it shows how other universities outside of Kentucky are trying to better their recyclable waste, and can give us some other ideas as well. Emily Sexton: When considering who holds stake within our research question and topic, we agreed that one of the most important groups involved is the University of Kentucky Recycling and Sustainability department. According to the Kentucky Recycling & Sustainability department’s website, “The UK Recycling Program’s goal is to facilitate the recycling efforts of the University. We strive to significantly reduce the University’s waste by offering a comprehensive recycling program, outstanding service and excellent education.” With our argument being directly related to plastic pollution, one of the biggest ways we can make a change is by monitoring and utilizing our recycling programs. The recycling and sustainability department is entirely in charge of managing every facilities recycling, including the dorms, which is where we are looking to start when making changes on campus. This is valuable for our

proposal because this department is working toward the same goal we are, just on a much broader spectrum. Their knowledge and programs could be extremely beneficial to us because they have worked through ideas and created clubs and changes on campus that we can learn from. They even have a page dedicated to listing what is recycling and what isn’t making it easy for anyone on UK’s campus to get information. On this page it also lists the process of their recycling program, that states, “The University of Kentucky has a single stream recycling program, where recyclable materials can be placed in the same container, mixed in; no separation needed. This program is call the All-in-One program”, this makes it easy for us when taking action and making the change stated in the argument because we will already know how certain systems already in place, work. Argument:We are advocating for making a change on campus that reduces the amount of plastic pollution on the University of Kentucky’s campus. To make this change, we are suggesting that on campus facilities, including student dorms, create a better regulated recycling program that requires staff (RA’s in dorms) to essentially “check” students trash and recycling before they are able to throw it away. By doing this we make sure that the systems we already have in place are being used for the purpose they were initially intended for. To create incentive for students, we think the best way to do this is by setting up a points system within student dorms, that awards each room of two a point for each time their trash and recycling are sorted properly. At the end of each month, for the floor with the most amount of points gets a reward (ie. pizza party, canes, ice cream, etc.). We are also planning on hopefully teaming up with a club that already exists on campus called “UK POPS”, which stands for passes on plastic, who has already taken action to this issue by providing students with reusable water bottles and requiring students to take a pledge to help end plastic pollution. As students, we make up a majority of the campus, so it is our responsibility to take the initiative to stand up and make the change ourselves. Later on in the process, we hope to see success through this one specific change on our campus, and it will hopefully spark a change on other campuses as well. This change is vital because plastic pollution isn’t only a problem on our campus, but a problem worldwide as well. Our ecosystem is suffering, and if we do not start taking action soon, it might be too late to save it later on. Target Audience & Social Media Platform: The stakeholder group that our campaign is targeting students and administration on The University of Kentucky’s campus. We want to target these groups because they can make the biggest change. Students are the ones that are ultimately making this problem worse and not stepping up to make a change. The administration are the ones that can force a change throughout all of UK’s campus, like making it a rule that all trash has to be checked by RA’s before students can throw out their trash. From the University of Kentucky’s Recycling Programs website, they strive to keep the campus of UK reduced in waste by providing a comprehensive recycling program,volunteer service and education (https://www.uky.edu/facilities/cppd/Services/Facilities-Services/Recycling). Though the university does work at trying to make a difference, our group believes that there can be a bigger difference made if the students and staff take part in reducing the waste around campus. To try and spread this believe our groups social media platform will be Twitter, because the universities Recycling Program already has a presence on there. They have posts that share information, one posts says “ Do YOU know what's recyclable? Check out UK's full recycling website to learn more about how you can recycle,” then it shares their link ( @UKrecycleCATS).

The Stakes: The reason that this argument matters is because plastic pollution is not only harming our ecosystem it is also harming our campus at the University of Kentucky. If you walk through campus you will notice that most students/employees have something that is plastic. Either a plastic water bottle, plastic bag with food in it, a coke can or just any recyclable item in general. If every student that had that plastic item just put it in a recycling bin or used and item that was reusable than it would cut down on plastic pollution on our campus. If the change does not get made it will not only impact just us as human beings it will also impact everything in our ecosystem. Such as marine life, the water we drink and the air that we breath. According to Priesnitz, Wendy there are 25 easy ways to help with the change just by changing things about your lifestyle. Everybody students, facility, waterways, the air, marine life, etc.. would benefit if this change did happen. The reason that my group and I care about reducing plastic pollution is because it is harming the earth that we live on and while eventually impact our life style and the way we live if something does not change. This is something that everybody should care about and should contribute to the change since it is our earth.

Works Cited (everyone): Argument Sources: Design Inc, Emerge Knowledge. “Recyclemania.” RecycleSearch, 2019, recyclesearch.com/profile/recyclemania/report/330? node_id=&competition_category=rmania_participate_gorilla&group_by=rank&pds_kgs=lbs&ge nerate=1. Division, Campus Physical Plant. “Recycling.” Recycling | Facilities Management, 2018, www.uky.edu/facilities/cppd/services/facilities-services/recycling. “A Brief History of Recycling.” A Brief History of Recycling - American Disposal, www.americandisposal.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-recycling. “UK 'Passes on Plastic' With New Campaign.” UKNow, 14 Sept. 2018, uknow.uky.edu/campusnews/uk-passes-plastic-new-campaign. Target Audience and Social Media Platform Sources: University of Kentucky. 21 Mar. 2019 . @UKrecycleCATS. “Do YOU Know What’s Recyclable? Check out UK’s Full Recycling Website to Learn More about How You Can Recycle:” 22 Mar. 2016, 5:03 https://twitter.com/UKrecycleCATS/status/712429444263256065. Stakeholder Sources: "Diddle/Smith Recycling Program." Diddle/Smith Recycling Program | Western Kentucky University. 22 Mar. 2019 . "Recyclemania." RecycleSearch. 22 Mar. 2019 . O'Conner, Ryan T., Dorothea C. Lerman, and Jennifer N. Fritz. "EFFECTS OF NUMBER AND LOCATION OF BINS ON PLASTIC RECYCLING AT A UNIVERSITY."

10 Mar. 2010. 22 Mar. 2019 . “Recycling.” Recycling | Facilities Management, www.uky.edu/facilities/cppd/services/facilities-services/recycling. “What Is Recyclable.” What Is Recyclable | Facilities Management, www.uky.edu/facilities/cppd/services/facilities-services/recycling/what-is-recyclable....