SKC campus recycling bins in place for Earth Day
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PABLO — With brisk breezes blowing, Salish Kootenai College students gathered to watch the ribbon cutting on the new recycling bins located west of on campus housing on April 20.
Before cutting the ribbon, SKC President Luana Ross complimented the students.
“SKC had no money for a sustainability office,” Ross said “Everybody just volunteered.”
Ross said research shows, “If you don’t have buy-in from administration and students, it’s not going to happen.”
And SKC had buy-in. Both students and staff, believed in the sustainability goal Ross spoke about when she began her term as SKC president two years ago. Rob Kenning, SKC faculty member and mentor for the club, did a lot for the recycling program as did student Nicole Stiffarm, a driving force behind the recycling effort and a forestry club member. The club started recycling aluminum and plastic in just one building in 2009, and now recycling is campus-wide because the club has stuck to the program.
Stiffarm, a senior this year, said, “The recycling program has been my baby. I want to keep it going.”
The timing for the recycling bins was great, too, Stiffarm said, and thanked Lake County Solid Waste program manager Mark Nelson for all his support, time and effort, much of which was a volunteer effort.
Nelson explained that the recycling bins are for the pubic to use — people from SKC housing and staff.
Two other recycling areas will be set up; one in Polson near the skatepark and one in Ronan near Harvest Foods. The bins have slots for cardboard, newspaper, mixed paper, such as office paper and magazines, aluminum, tin cans, clear milk jugs, No. 2 colored plastic and water bottles. The bins are no trash recptacles.
“I want to thank Luana for getting the recycling program going,” Nelson added. “It’s fitting we open this (recycling bin center) first, since the campus community has been very supportive.”
After the first cardboard was recycled, the students scattered to pick up trash around the campus in honor of Earth Day.
