Prompted Post, Week # 8

Hands on learning experiences are much different than learning in the classic class room setting. I got to experience a Hands on project in the environmental field through my ESA 200 class and the Rise program.

I blogged once before about the Bailey Hall 2014 Legacy project of Curbside Recycling. A week ago I got to participate in the first collection of this project.

We had about 10 students there who were there to collect and sort all of the recyclables from the curbside bins. First we had to go knocking on peoples doors and ask them for their boxes so we could dump their recyclables into a larger bin for sorting later. It was not as easy as it sounds for, some people were strongly against recycling or did not believe in it. Or that they thought that it does not cause environmental problems if they don't recycle . This showed me that in the real world it is not so easy, and everyone is not on board to help save the planet like they are in my ESA 200 class. The people who refused to participate showed me that there are many more people like this and it may not be an easy ride.

Once the collection was over we had to sort out the recyclables into plastics, paper, glass, metals, boxboard and cardboard, as well as recyclable cans. We thought it would go smoothly because most people understand how to recycle, or so we thought, and we had taken the time to educate these students on the proper ways to recycle and what is allowed to go into the bins. That was not the case either. We had LOTS of contaminated plastics that we were not able to be recycle. Also we had lots of hybrid packaging such as chip bags that have that aluminum colored material inside the product. These types of materials can not be recycled due to the hybrid material. Also we had loft of half full water bottles that we had to take the time to empty so we could recycle them. Not everyone took this project seriously the first week, there was also lots of trash in the bins and one that someone had used to throw up in.

This experience show me that even if people want to help out the environment they don't always know how. By implementing this project we did get a ton of recyclables that we filled all of the bins in Bailey, the Back of a pick up truck, and lots of huge bags full of recyclables that might have otherwise been thrown in the landfill.

Environmental help is on the rise and people are more aware of it but this showed me we have to put more effort into education people on the issues and problems and the correct ways to fix them. It may not be easy but with all that we recycled it showed me that it is worth the fight, and that I look forward to doing more work like this in the future, with other environmental problems as well. It was an eye opening experience that I could not have had in a class room setting.