Encouragement of paper efficiency amongst students at

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Jacqueline Brunelli, Dawn Burstein, Kasey Francica, Alexander Sghia-Hughes, Conor Sjogren

Opening Imagine a landfill, spreading a great distance in every direction,

including up. Now picture that 40% of that landfill is something we

dispose of every day without hesitation – paper. Believe it or not,

paper makes up almost half of our landfills, meaning more than half of

it is capable of being recycled. So, in an effort to decrease the rate of

expansion of landfills and reduce the amount of greenhouse gas

emissions, we are proposing that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

expands its recycling and paper reduction program.

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Opening (cont.) This project is meant to target RPI students as it is noted that they are

one of the biggest contributors to this issue. (According to Susan Garrigan-Piela, Business Manager for the school of Humanities, Arts,

and Social Sciences)

We hope that this advocacy project will inspire the students, faculty,

and staff to act in a more eco-friendly manner and eventually expand

this proposal outside the walls of RPI.

What is our projectGoal: Reduce virgin paper consumption at RPI

Target: Students at RPI

Project Type: Awareness/Implementation

End Result: Increased use of recycled paper and hand dryers

Three methods to reach goal: Promotion/ads in public venues

Install warm air hand dryers in bathrooms

Change printing defaults to double-sided printing

Aims (cont.) Timeline: 2-3 years implementation for an environmental/economical

payback and/or profit.

Timeline: 3+ years for full participation from students

Statistics taken reveal 90% refuse available recycling/greener facilities.

Requires involvement of environmental groups, both internal and external.

Campus can benefit from reduced paper consumption categories such as: Increased aesthetic value

Increased profit from hand dryer use

Happier students = better campus atmosphere = better business in admissions

RationaleTwo Main Reasons:

Greener choices can help push for RPI to become a leading research institute.

Part of President Shirley Ann Jacksons vision for breaking RPI out of its engineering school image.

Promotes green behavior for a better life.

Students carry choices/habits with them after graduation.

If implemented early enough, can form greener habits earlier in students.

Gives longer time for the habits to solidify and grow.

Implementation Reduce Consumption and Encourage Recycling

Use Recycling Bins Use Double-Sided Printing Defaults Advertise on the TV’s in the DCC , dining halls, and

Public areas

Implementation Cont’d Use Recycled Paper

30% PCW = 30% fewer trees used, 13% less energy used 11% fewer greenhouse gas emissions

Installing Hand Dryers Talk to Maintenance and Administration Convince Students to use hand dryers instead of

paper towels

Factors Involved in Implementation

Students

Willingness to Recycle

Use of paper efficient options

Professors

Use of internet for distribution

Efficient use of printer paper

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Stakeholders On campus

Students

Faculty/Staff

Mail Service

Off campus

Paper companies

Hand Dryer Manufacturer

Troy Citizens

Local Landfills

Social Alliances On Campus

Mail service

Maintenance Staff

Students

Professors

Off Campus

Paper Distributers

Troy Locals

Why Recycle Paper? Paper releases methane gas which is 20x more potent then carbon

dioxide.

Almost all paper can be recycled yet:

• About 35% of space taken up in landfills is paper

• 14% of that paper is just newspapers

So I propose a better question why not recycle paper?

Its one of the simplest ways to go green yet most people just chose not to do it.

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Why wouldn't this work? Its possible students won’t embrace our campaign.

We hope that if given the information and the right tools it will make it easier to make better decisions when it comes to recycling.

Administration may also deny our proposition to install hand dryers in the bathrooms.

If that were to be an issue we would have to address the student issue first because in order to get administration on our side we would need the student body support first.

In conclusion.. This advocacy project has already been implemented and found

successful at other Universities. (i.e. University of California, Berkeley)

While most people assume that recycling paper is minimal and negligible, our hope is to convince the student and staff at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute otherwise.

Our advocacy project proposal offers significant benefits of recycling (lower energy costs, greenhouse gas reduction, etc.), as well as the benefits of purchasing recycled paper (cost beneficial, quality paper, etc.).