August 28, 2008
Convention '08: A University Signs Up for Garbage Duty
Colorado State U. photo
Denver —In enormous white tents outside the Pepsi Center at the Democratic convention here, students from Colorado State University sift through mounds of trash, separating compostables from recyclables, and plastic from paper.
Over the course of the four-day convention, more than 460 student, staff and faculty volunteers from Colorado State will fill 600 “sorting” shifts at the Pepsi Center and Colorado Convention Center. The first shift leaves Fort Collins for Denver at 6 a.m. each day and the last returns at 2 a.m. that night.
Their efforts are one way colleges are participating in the Democratic National Committee’s efforts to make their 2008 convention the most environmentally sustainable in modern American history. Among other goals, the DNC has set a target of diverting 85 percent of the waste generated from the convention from landfills.
It’s a goal the party clearly takes seriously. There are large green recycling bins scattered across the city, and volunteers are stationed at many of them to make sure that attendees put their garbage in the proper compartment.
The DNC has also installed water filling stations at various locations to encourage the use of refillable water bottles.
Colorado State applied to lead the “sorting” portion of the recycling effort after the DNC ignored its offer to play music at the airport, said Michele McKinney, public-relations director for the university. She said even the recycling was a tough sell.
“It’s a major event and there are many committees,” she said in a phone interview. “For them to relinquish an aspect to any one entity is not common.”
Laura Carson, a sophomore at Colorado State who volunteered yesterday, said the pile of garbage at the Pepsi Center was so large that “it felt like we didn’t make a dent.”
But she still felt the effort was worthwhile. “I learned a lot about composting,” she said. “I’m excited to go home and live that way.”
Kelly Field | Posted on Thursday August 28, 2008 | Permalink
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