Recycling rivals

As a loyal School of Public and Environmental Affairs student, it kills me to have to say what I’m about to say. No, really, this is not easy for me, especially given the history of the rivalry between my beloved SPEA and the famously infamous Kelley School of Business. In fact, I’ll probably regret saying this the second I put it down on paper.\nThe business school has beaten us at our own game: They have out-recycled us. \nNow, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the situation, there has traditionally been a bit of friendly competition between the students, faculty and support staff of SPEA and those of the B-School. The object of contention is simple: deciding who’s better - us, or the I-Core-ravaged Kelley kids. The answer is also simple: We are.\nThat’s why it saddens me so much to admit that the recycling situation in SPEA is less than ideal. While there are newspaper recycling bins scattered throughout the building, good luck finding somewhere (other than, of course, the floor or the trashcan) to deposit anything else. Say, for example, that I’m happily walking through the orange, retro hallways of the SPEA building, sipping a Diet Coke. When I finish, I am dismayed to find that no matter how hard I look, there is not a plastic or aluminum can recycling bin in sight. While my situation is not completely hopeless, since there are several appropriate receptacles nearby (outside the Business/SPEA library, and in the Kelley School itself), I actually have to cross into enemy territory to recycle my Coke can.\nThe other day, somewhat disillusioned by the lack of recycling that I saw at SPEA, I decided to undertake a risky expedition into the Kelley School to see whether they had the bins that we do not. Surprisingly, I saw bins for aluminum, plastic and paper on every single floor.\nIn the new graduate building, which I half expected to be kicked out of because I wasn’t wearing a power suit and heels, I encountered discrete, tasteful receptacles – probably gold-plated – for recyclables. \nI have seen the enemy, and they recycle. What gives?\nOf course, as I learned during my years in the dorms, the presence of recycling bins anywhere on campus does not necessarily mean they’re being used. And even if they are used, they may not be used correctly. For example, I know that aluminum can receptacles have often been substituted for barf bags here at IU, and on a national scale, a number of strange items turn up in recycling bins every day, including, in one instance, a missing girl. \nBasically, what it comes down to is that with the widespread misuse – and lack of use – of recycling around the country, we cannot afford to be petty about who does the job better. The bottom line is that if you’re wandering around campus and have a plastic bottle to recycle, it won’t hurt you to stop inside Kelley to do it. Business majors don’t bite. \nWell, not usually, anyway.