Students for Sustainability is working to make Greek Row a little bit greener.
The club is currently in talks with the Delta Delta Delta sorority to improve recycling in the sorority’s house, and have also been negotiating with the Chi Omega sorority to set up a composting program, according to Nicholas Rossi, an intern with Students for Sustainability.
Rossi came up with the idea of a recycling initiative in fraternity and sorority houses after working in the Delta Delta Delta house’s kitchen.
“We want to implement the program in two houses by Halloween,” Rossi said. “Once we have one or two houses, we can use those as a model to present to the rest of Greek Life, and get everyone else on board.”
According to Rossi, a number of sororities have recycling services available to them but do not utilize the services. He said he wants to place proper receptacles and signage in the houses to improve those initiatives. He also stressed the importance of introducing composting in order to recycle food waste.
After recycling is installed in the houses, Rossi said he wants to focus on other aspects of sustainability, such as reducing energy usage.
He also said that education is central to the project. This includes instructing organizations as to what kind of materials can be recycled, as well as the benefits of recycling.
Jake Barman, a senator with the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, a business sophomore and member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, said that plans are also in progress with waste management to figure out the logistics associated with implementing a new recycling project for other members of Greek Life.
Barman ran for ASUA Senate on a platform that included increased recycling programs.
Jordan Woollard, the marketing project manager of Students for Sustainability and a senior studying management information systems, business management and operations management, stressed the importance of encouraging organizations to participate in the program. This could include a benefits program for participating houses, though the details are still a work in progress.
“Recycling’s great and all, but you need both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation,” he said. “Some people would be motivated just because they want to be more sustainable. Others, it takes an incentive, a little more convincing. The project is so new, so we’re still working on what would be the best way to do that.”
Barman, meanwhile, emphasized the benefits that chapters would see by recycling.
“It’s cheaper to get recycling pickup, so why are we paying all this extra money when we can be saving so much more by recycling?” he said. “You’re not only saving money for your chapter, you’re also helping the environment and getting the campus to go green.”
