Valley’s recycling problem

Valley College does not recycle

By Savannah Simmons, Opinion Editor

Even with climate change being such a huge concern lately, there is shockingly no recycling at Valley College.

With some recycling bins boarded up and others seen being dumped into the garbage, Eddie Kaufman-Morrow, commissioner of campus & environmental affairs, shares that Valley does not recycle but has hopes and is making an effort to change that by taking on new positions and creating awareness for students and faculty on campus.

“We need to help educate not just the students on campus,” said Commissioner Kaufman-Morrow, “but the faculty and staff of why it is important to take care of the environment and advocate for change.”

The greenhouse effect helps us live on this planet by making Earth have a livable climate, but at the same time, traps in gases that are causing the rise in temperature. Climate change is normal but we are experiencing changes quicker than the Earth and some living things are able to adapt.

One of the easiest things people can do to contribute to the fight against climate change is recycling. No major lifestyle change is needed and it has little thinking involved; simply separate your trash as you go.Recycling helps do things like save water, resources and energy, and helps reduce greenhouse gases.

Kaufman-Morrow created a sustainability coordinator subcommittee to figure out all community colleges in Region VII’s progress on a sustainability program or coordinator, and also took on the responsibility as the External Affairs Director for Region VII to be able to communicate with all colleges to see how they run their programs on sustainability and awareness.

“Outreach is the most important piece in all of this,” said Kaufman-Morrow when talking about how he wants to create change. “Outreach with equity in mind.”

The effort from our commissioner is there, as he knows about and is making moves on mitigating the issue at hand. He has a goal of creating a Trash Awareness Day every month to gather statistics on how much trash is on campus and would also like to create an amendment where students would need to complete five hours of volunteer work on campus.  

It is unclear why Valley turned down a proper waste management program. Kaufman-Morrow thinks it was due to costs, but luckily he is working hard to help make school environmentally friendly. As the school’s renovation is happening and new buildings are being built on campus, Valley should be on the side of helping our planet out with things as simple as recycling.

“I am very interested in educating and creating a conversation,” said Kaufman-Morrow. “The beginning of change is through awareness.”

The next Trash Awareness Day will be held on December 18 from 1 to 2 p.m. Go to the Skybox Conference Room on the second floor of the Student Union Building to join and if you’d like more information on easy ways you can help stop climate change, visit https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/stopglobalwarming.php.

“Spring will be a great awakening for Valley,” said a hopeful Kaufman-Morrow.