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Environmental Studies Department |
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Campus Paper Waste Reduction Project: A Follow-Up By Mary Reuling and Diwakar Thapa The report, Campus Paper Waste Reduction Project, published by Heather Crawford and Kelly Forney in 2000, started with the line, ”The piles of abandoned paper that accumulate besides the printers in the Library and Humanities computer labs, the recyclable paper found in trash bins and the large volumes of one-sided reading materials printed for classes are all testament to the rampant careless use of paper on campus.” The goal of their project was to produce a document testifying to the need to reduce consumption of paper at Macalester College and to increase the reuse and recycling of paper. A year later, as we follow-up on their recommendations, we find things are beginning to change. Without making any absolute or comparative judgments, we find that the concept of 'rethinking' the consumptive attitudes of paper among Macalester is changing. Interviews suggest that students are far better testament to this fact than faculty, but there is a small visible shift to adopting a more ’green’ culture. As an anecdote, when we went to work in the Humanities lab this semester, we saw an extra bin that was designated for the reuse of the unused side of printable paper. There is a start to Paper waste reduction, but the journey has just but started CIT and LIBRARY The Problem The CIT and Library are the hypocenters for paper consumption. When we talked to David Sisk of CIT, he agreed to the fact that the problem is that, students and faculty can print as much as they want. This gives rise to the classic economic problem of paper being perceived as a ’free good’ by students and faculty. The truth is far from that. As a matter of fact, every student has to share the cost of every piece of paper that is used by them or the faculty. The Ideal Solution The ideal solution to this problem would be to remove the perception that paper is a free good, by charging the students and faculty for every piece of paper they used at the source. This could be done by means of allocating a quota and then punishing every additional consumption by means of a price tag. However, this socialist idea would never find grounding at this 'liberal institution' right now. Part of the problem is cultural, the ability for educators and educated to gain access to resources’ and part of the problem is technical, the college currently has a few old Macintosh computers that cannot be configured to this system. All said, the possibility remains and should be reconsidered often. The Proposed Solution It was proposed that duplex printing be made available from all machines on campus. Also, it was recommended that a different version of Netscape 4.0 be put on the Novell network since it prints with fewer problems. Finally, the ’ideal solution’ was also proposed. As mentioned, the 'ideal solution' would hold no chance under present circumstances. As for the concept of duplex printing, all printers in the library and labs have duplex printers installed. All printers in the Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center have duplexing units. CIT installs a dulex printer everytime a department printer needs to be replaced. They also hope to change the printers in the Dupre labs to duplexing printers. In so doing, the CIT is enabling students and faculty to use both sides of the paper when they print with ease. The first part of the problem is being solved, the more major hurdle would be to make students and faculty start using that function. Some other steps that are being aimed towards paper reduction are:
Below is a summary of the table furnished to us by David Sisk of CIT. It shows the cost of paper that has been used for the various public libraries. Even though the figure for the academic year 2000/2001 is only for the first three quarters of the year, even if we were to extrapolate for the entire year (approximately), we would still see a visible reduction in the total amount of paper used.1
Table 1: Printing Costs in Public Labs2 The library is provided for it's paper from Purchasing and is budgeted under CIT. Our conversation with Ron Joslin, Systems librarian of DeWitt Wallace library, revealed that this year we are on track to use about the same amount of paper as last year. Even though it was recommended that new comers be given some training on printing double sided during the library orientation, this has not been implemented yet. Ron is enthusiastic to receive our recommendations and hopes to make such training part of the orientation. Below is a table of a 'guesstimate' of the amount of paper that was used in the 1999/2000 academic year and the amount that has been used so far in the 2000/2001 academic year.
Table 2: Paper use 'guesstimate' for Library3 TODAY: The 'Macalester Classifieds Daily' Macalester students, faculty and staff see the Today as a valuable resource for distributing daily information. However, many of us feel that more than needed paper is used to distribute the Today on a daily basis. Pat Traynor, who runs the Today through the Dean of Students office, told us that she has been trying to continuously reduce the waste of paper by limiting the need for too many copies of Today. The Today, as of last year, is now published on the web. This has reduced the circulation of the Today by a 100 copies per day. The next step is to allow students to access the Today through their personalized web accounts, such a ’MyInfo’. This could reduce the circulation by another 100 copies. MAC WEEKLY: Macalester's Weekly Newsletter The Mac Weekly is not such a major user of paper and since their printing is outsourced, there is little control over their use. However, we felt that it would be proper to mention their current status on paper consumption.4 The Mac Weekly uses traditional newsprint, which has a substantial recycled content in it. They print 1600 copies per week as per college requirements and that hasn’t changed since last year. The printing costs them between $250-$300 per week. Each week some copies are not used and left in stacks. Jane Turk, the Editor-in-chief who furnished us this information, told us that the amount not used varies each week. They keep an archive of the extra newspapers. MACRO: Macalester Recycling Organization Macro is the recycling organization at Macalester, under the jurisdiction of the Physical plant. It was founded on Earth Day in 1970. Today Macro recycles many items including paper. In terms of paper, they recycle any color of paper, including:
A brochure given to us by James Davidson of the Physical plant, states that every ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees, enough energy to heat an entire home for the winter and 20 tons of water. He is very excited to see that students are becoming very active participants of the recycling culture. The paper recycling infrastructure, we think, is in place. The more important aspect is to get people to start acting in that direction. Recycling bins are located in every building across campus. They are strategically placed where the waste is generated at a higher rate and moved upon request on high anticipated demand. Jim told us that they always place recycling bins around copy rooms and labs, space and fire marshal code permitting. Each bin is homogenously labeled across campus and also marked in various languages. All paper that is collected in the recycling bins are then taken to Wallace, where students separate the paper into mixed, cardboard, glossy, thin cardboard etc. Each year there are roughly 25 students working for Macro. 16 students put in 408 hours per month to collect the recyclables. Jim told us that he has seen a increase in the volume of recyclables in conjunction with an increase in gross waste. Every ten years, the Physical plant does a study to see how much of the garbage thrown into the waste bins are actually recyclable. Jim wants this test done every 5 years . One such test was done just this past April. We are still awaiting the final results. Document Services Document Services is a private contractor, which makes it a little more difficult to get specific information on the amount of copies that are made through their office. We spoke with Trisha Wirth, who is the one in charge of ordering the paper, and were able to learn more about the processing which takes place. The office orders approximately 300, 000 sheets of paper a year, and there does not seem to be a noticeable decrease in campus-wide paper consumption. The majority of the jobs that are received by Document Services are ordered directly through their office, in the Campus Center, by staff and faculty around campus. According to Wirth, the Provost’s office and Campus Programs seem to be the major consumers of paper because they put in a few massive orders, but these are only at specific times of the year. Other departments have little jobs that are done all throughout the year, but there is presently no tracking to see which departments order the largest quantities of copies. In addition to the printing done in their office, Document Services is also in charge of the convenience copiers that are located in the academic buildings. These machines are available for use by the various academic departments. All of the convenience copiers in the academic buildings are equipped with a duplexing system. The catch is that it is more expensive to use these machines than it is to send the job to be completed in the Document Services office. It was suggested last year that one way to reduce paper use would be to make double-sided printing a standard procedure. Instead of checking a box to indicate “double-sided” copies, departments would be required to check a box if they specifically wanted single-sides copies. We proposed this idea for a second time, and were told that since double-sided printing is less expensive than single-sided, presently ~90% of the jobs that come through Document Services request double-sided copies, if not for conservation purposes, because of the economic incentive. The type of paper that is primarily used by Document Services is the Exact Vellum Bristol Acid-Free and the Wausau paper, which are suitable for laser ink jets. Contrary to common belief, these types of paper contain 0% post-consumer fiber and 0% total recovered fibers. This means that the paper that is used by Document Services comes entirely from virgin timber. The fact that the paper that is used does not contain any recycled paper content is the most frustrating aspect about Document Services. The majority of the people that we talked to in other areas concerning paper consumption told us that the paper used in Document Services was very environmentally friendly, and they were sure that it contained a high recycled content. We are not sure if this was once true or if it is just a very common misperception. Wirth explained that while she might order the amount of paper, she is not in charge or deciding which type of paper is used. Wirth was not sure who makes these decisions, but she is confident that if there is opposition by Macalester faculty and students, it could be possible to make some changes. Purchasing We met with Jim Jeffers who is head of Purchasing and Central Stores in order to try and establish whether the paper consumption on campus has varied since the previous year. Jeffers is in charge of ordering paper for all of the copying/printing that is not done by Document Services or provided for the convenience copiers. This includes the paper that is ordered for Computing Information Technology (CIT), the library, the academic and administrative offices, and the computing labs in Olin Rice and the dormitories. There is no quota for paper consumption by departments on campus, and it is instead based on their individual budgets. The amount of paper that is used depends on how much of their budget the departments are willing to spend on paper. Jeffers is also in charge of the purchasing of new printers and photocopiers on campus. Since last year, duplex systems have been a standard requirement for walk-ups and department machines. Presently, the highest demand for paper comes from Admissions, Alumni and Development, and the library. The paper is stocked in Central Stores and since the system is not computerized yet, there is no easy way to record paper consumption by department. Once an updated system is in place, it will be much easier to keep track of the distribution of paper. We were pleased to hear that paper usage has dropped slightly in terms of how much is being purchased yearly. Macalester orders paper by the pallet, with 500 sheets in a ream, 10 reams in a carton, and 40 cartons or 20,000 sheets per pallet. Previously, Jeffers ordered approximately 1 pallet per month, but this has dropped to approximately 11 pallets a year. Jeffers believes that this reduction may be in association with the increased use of email on campus. Macalester’s current paper contract is for Great White paper from International Paper. Our local vendor is still Unisource, which provides this type of classic, multi-use paper for $5.37 per 1000 sheets. Great White paper is made from 30% recycled fibers, is acid-free, and of archival quality. Macalester changed from Springhill Recycled Relay paper to this new type because it was more widely available in the area. The Eurka 100% Recycled PCF (Produced Chlorine-Free) paper was suggested last year as an alternate to the Springhill Recycled Relay. Jeffers looked into this proposal, but was unable to contact the Eureka company. Jeffers also researched another type of 100% recycled paper that is produced in Colorado, but it was not available in the Twin Cities area. Availability is a very important factor in ordering paper. It is not good to have paper sitting around for long, so Jeffers tries to order on a monthly need basis. If more paper is needed, he must be able to get it quickly or else the departments will buy paper elsewhere and there is no guarantee that this will be of environmentally friendly quality. Another important factor is the quality of the paper. If it is 100% recycled, but inferior quality, the problems that will occur with printing will cause more printer jams, and in turn more printing to be done. Thus 100% recycled content is only worthwhile if it is of decent quality, otherwise the problems will lead to a higher amount of paper consumption and waste. Survey We did a survey on 100 Macalester students. Out of the 100, 32 students responded. We did this survey to just get a basic idea on student sentiments and action towards paper recycling. None of the results can be used for scientific analysis.5 Here are the results: We also had a section in the paper for optional suggestions. Here are some of the recurring suggestions that we received:
Conclusion After weeks of investigation with paper recycling at Macalester College, we found reason to be optimistic. Even though Macalester has a long way to go in terms of being a truly ’green’ college, it seems that the foundation has been laid. All internal college departments are aware of the importance of paper recycling and have taken some measures, however small, towards conserving, reducing and reusing paper. The biggest obstacle to this crusade is that it compromises with many people’s ’heavy consumption’ culture and seems to bring about an inconvenience that many would rather do without. The main weapon we have is education. Education on why recycling is important on a macro scale and also how it can be financially beneficial. It also seems obvious that students are the main force behind this. When we talked to Trisha Wirth from document services, she said that if students cared enough and voiced their opinion, they would pay more attention. David Sisk mentioned that the ’ideal solution’ can only be achieved, at least in the short run, if students push the faculty and administration to act. Where services are outsourced, there is less control and thus these agents are less likely to align with the 'green' culture that we are trying to establish. However, if there is a strong enough push by the students it seems that things can change quite drastically. On the flip side, we are seeing more resources to make recycling easier on campus. The number of bins are increasing, more of waste computer paper is being used and a lot of campus communication is done electronically. This trend needs to continue and spread across campus. We hope that in the years to come we can look at Macalester College as a leader in sustainable resource management, as it has been in the field of academics. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1This conclusion is considering the fact that the cost per unit of paper has not changed since last year. 2See the appendix for the full table. 3The paper use for 2000/2001 is only for the first three-quarters of the academic year. Note that the paper is bought at $27.70 per case. 4For purposes of future references. 5This is not a statistical survey and should not be conceived as such. |
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