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Our study compares the recycling habits of students at Miami University; in particular the students from four dorms on Western Campus. We predicted that the students that live in Mary Lyon and Peabody will recycle more because they are Western majors and they are thought of as being more environmentally conscious. We compared the amounts of recycled goods from Mary Lyon and Peabody to the two main campus major dorms, Clawson and Havighurst. By comparing paper, glass, aluminum, and plastic, we found out how much the average student in each dorm recycles by dividing the weights by the amount of students in each dorm.
Our research question is whether or not the students in the Mary Lyon and Peabody recycle more than those in Clawson and Havighurst. We predicted that the amount of recycling would be greater in Mary Lyon and Peabody. Our findings yield that the students in the Peabody and Mary Lyon do recycle more. Our study is relevant to the main ideas and awareness that the Western classes are trying to present to the students. The curriculum instills the ideas that we should be more aware of our buying habits, our lifestyles, and most importantly how our actions affect the world we live in. By recycling our everyday items instead of throwing them away, the Western and Main Campus students can also do a small part to help preserve the Earth.
Introduction
The purpose of our study is to investigate whether or not students with environmentally based majors recycle more often then those students with a different major. We are collecting data from four dorms on Western Campus; two of which house students in the Western Program and two of which house students with Main Campus majors. Anders Klang states that narrowing down points to a certain amount or area can make collecting data easier by representing a whole without measuring the whole. He states that the targeted search can be a good way to influence behavior. In agreement with Klang, we believe that narrowing our research down to these four dorms will help us obtain and analyze the sample data while still representing the overall student population of Miami University (Klang, 2003).
Our hypothesis is that students whose intended majors involve environmental issues will recycle more than those students who have non-environmentally based majors. As students in the Western Program, we assume that since most people are aware and concerned about the environment, they are more likely to recycle. The students that live in Mary Lyon and Peabody are required to take classes and live within a community that encourages them to think critically about their actions that affect the world in which we live.
We are presenting the information we collect through this lab to our peers. Hopefully this will make people think about their actions more carefully and think about the impact that recycling has on the environment. ÒRecycling is not a goal in itself, but part of a larger issue to reduce the negative environmental and economic impacts of resource useÓ (Fullerton, 2003).
This research is an interesting topic to us because of our desire to prove whether or not intended majors influence studentsÕ actions outside of the classroom. Does educating people inside the classroom about recycling actually change their views on the subject? Are the Western classes making an impact on the students recycling habits or not? In our Social Systems and Natural Systems courses, we have discussed our impact, as individuals, on the environment. In Social Systems we analyzed our process of buying, using, and disposing of our resources, making us more aware of each decision along the way and how it affects not only us, but the product and our society. In Natural Systems we have discussed how the environment suffers from our lack of concern for the products we use and how we dispose of them. Both classes sparked an interest in us to learn about peopleÕs dedication to the conservation of our environment. Studying this data will allow us to make a distinction as to whether or not students will take action in even the most basic environmental issues, without having the option of thinking critically about the information presented to them in class.
Background Information
Through our study we are becoming more aware of the benefits of recycling by collecting information from a variety of different sources. It came to our attention, on a more serious level, of how important recycling is for the future of our environment. By recycling we can save 13-95% of the energy which is required to produce goods from scratch. In addition to saving energy, natural resources are also preserved. For example, one ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees, 7000 gallons of water, and 380 gallons of oil. By recycling, air pollution is reduced by 65% and water pollution is reduced by 30% (McKelfresh, 2003).
Each year, Americans will dispose of 208 million tons of municipal solid waste. It is most common to dispose of waste in a landfill. However, because of the mass amounts of waste in todayÕs society, some landfills are reaching their capacity very quickly and we are running out of areas for new landfills. Another popular way to dispose of waste is incineration; although could be considered a bad alternative since it radiates highly toxic residue ash. The four variables that we are measuring, aluminum, paper, plastic, and glass, all have significant effects on the environment making it well worth to recycle.
ALUMINUM-
We can greatly reduce the amount of wasted materials by recycling certain items. It is economically favorable to recycle materials that can be refined than to use raw resources. Such materials would include metals, plastics, and glass as opposed to wood, which is not worth recycling since it consumes more energy to recycle than to replace (Ramesh, 2003). Out of the previously mentioned materials, it is most cost efficient to recycle aluminum. The average curbside collection program can make $487 off of one ton of aluminum cans, whereas by recycling glass you lose $47 each ton.
In todayÕs society the use of aluminum is increasing rapidly. Aluminum is the most abundant metal found on earth, as it is used more frequently in our everyday lives, recycling becomes more vital. The aluminum found in todayÕs landfills will still be there in 200 years. Every three months Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial air fleet, throwing away just one aluminum can wastes as much energy as pouring out half that canÕs volume of gasoline.
As the use of aluminum increases, consumers are also gaining more knowledge about recycling this reusable resource. With more education about recycling, the public can make educated decisions about recycling aluminum. Over the past decade, the number of aluminum beverage cans has doubled. The 62.6 billion aluminum cans recycled last year could fill a hollow Empire State Building 24 times, or circle the earthÕs equator 171 times. That is 4,251,060 miles! Researchers have calculated that in the United States, about 119,482 cans of aluminum are recycled every 60 seconds. Enough cans were recycled last year to save the energy equivalent to 15 million barrels of crude oil, our countryÕs entire gas consumption for an entire day.
Recycling aluminum can also help save energy. Recycling one ton of aluminum saves the same amount of energy of 2,350 gallons of gasoline. This is the same amount of electricity used in an average American home over a period of 10 years. Recycling one little can produces enough energy to power your television for three hours or keep a 100-watt bulb burning for almost four hours.
Aluminum recycling originated at the beginning of the 20th century but was a low-profile activity until the late 1960Õs when the public became aware of the importance of recycling. One million pounds of aluminum were recycled the same year that the aluminum can appeared, the same amount that is melted in hours nowadays. Recently aluminum has become the leading recoverable resource in the United States. Last year alone over half the aluminum cans consumed were later recycled. To aid in the amount of aluminum recycled the aluminum industries pay people about $1 billion a year since they chose to recycle their empty cans. Since the early 70Õs the public has made over $25 billion by choosing to recycle their used cans. Aluminum manufactures can save enough energy need to supply electricity to a city the size of Pittsburgh by using the recycled material instead of producing new aluminum. Beverage cans, siding, gutters, storm window frames, and lawn furniture can all be recycled. Automobiles, windows and doors, and appliances all can be made from recycled aluminum. Aluminum is the most valuable recycled material. In the United States, aluminum recycling has become an industry in itself. The material has a high market value and provides an economic incentive to recycle.
PAPER-
There are so many shocking facts that will hopefully encourage everyone to recycle after being educated about it. Every Sunday morning after reading the paper, 90% of the recyclable paper is wasted in the United States. 500,000 trees are wasted by this action alone. It is amazing to know that one single tree can filter the air from 60 pounds of pollutants. We discard these facts by throwing away our paper when we could just as easily recycle.
When you cut down trees, grind them up, and put the remains in acid, you get cellulose; which is what paper is made out of. When you recycle paper, you use the cellulose over again. This process allows less use of electricity, water, pollution, and saves trees. The paper products that are recycled using a benign process are made of 100% fibers. This allows less waste from the process of manufacturing it and also reduces the amount of bleach that has to be used. The bleach is less strong with recycled paper and an oxygen-based bleaching process is also an option to whiten the paper. There are few paper mills that actually use this process but it is more environmentally conscious, although it is usually used for tissues and fine papers. The mills that do produce benign papers are usually very small and are more expensive. There is also a hope that chlorine-free virgin paper will be available to consumers without the hassle of shipping it from around the world.
The paper that we use in our homes, schools, and offices are referred to as post-consumer wastepaper (PCW). The demand for post-consumer wastepaper has increased because of the governmentÕs standard for recycled paper use. This does not compare to the demand for tree pulp though, in comparison to the demand of recycling. The post-consumer wastepaper is what we assume that recycled paper is made out of. This is shocking to many people when they realize that the PCW that we think is going into the recycled paper is really going into the incinerators and only makes up a small percentage of the paper fibers in recyclables throughout our country. We should concentrate on using this wastepaper in the recycling process. This can happen by taking our waste to recycling centers more and by keeping up the demand for the PCW content in the recycled paper we use. You can buy the products that use the highest amount, since there isnÕt a shortage of this wastepaper.
It is necessary to de-ink the fibers when recycling with wastepaper. There are, of course, some simple alternatives to de-ink that involve simple detergent processes. The process that uses chlorine and other chemicals that are also harmful result in dangerous wastes. What we consider to be ink from copy machines and laser printers is actually burned on plastic polymer. By using these ÒinksÓ rather than ink at a print shop, or on a typewriter, impact, or inkjet printer there are more harmful chemicals used to de-ink the paper. The toxic wastes can be reduced mainly by using ink, instead of lasers and copiers, when possible. The bulk of the paper that we use should be non-de-inked, un-re-bleached, recycled paper in order to have a healthy and clean environment. Ultimately, recycling and buying PCW high content recycled paper will contribute as well.
PLASTIC-
The word plastic comes from both the Latin and Greek language. Plasticus in Latin means Òcapable of molding,Ó while plastikos in Greek means Òto mold,Ó or Òfit for molding.Ó The reason for the molding qualities of plastic is because of its relationship with the polymer family. A polymer is a material made out of a long chain of molecules; for plastic, this long chain is made up of carbon molecules. Because of these long chains, there are many combinations of molecules that can be formed, resulting in over 50 different types of plastic that man has developed for different purposes. Some plastics are hard and durable, while other plastics are soft and flexible.
Plastics are made up of synthetic materials which are derived from fossil fuels, meaning there is only a limited amount of the resources available to make new plastics. Because plastics are widely used in society, as well is in industries, it is necessary to monitor our intake and then dispose of it properly so that it can be reused and our resources do not go to waste. A car, on average, contains around 300 pounds of plastic, making up 12 percent of the overall weight of the vehicle. Just imagine the amount of plastic going to waste if that car just sat in a junk yard or land fill when it broke down. In order to reuse these resources, it is necessary to recycle plastic.
All plastics can be recycled, but the different types have to be recycled in different ways. Thermoplastics are plastics that can be remolded over and over again, so this type simply gets re-melted and formed in to new products. Thermosetting plastics can only be molded once; however, they can be ground up and included in other types of plastics in the recycling process. Despite the high need to recycle plastics, in America only about 5 percent of plastics are recycled, compared to the 45 percent of paper, 27 percent aluminum, and 23 percent of glass. This is partially because of the high cost and time requirements of plastics recycling. Recycling plastics loses $912 each ton (Schaffer, 2003). All of the different 50 types of plastics must be sorted individually, or they do not remold properly and effectively. For this sorting process, they use x-ray sensors that can determine the chemical make-up of the plastics being sorted. There is also the issue of toxins being released during the melting process, as some types of plastics release poisonous fumes, but this is only as issue with incineration, which is not used as extensively as recycling in the plastics business. Another typical manner of waste disposal is biodegrading, but since plastics are made of long chains of molecules and are made to be durable, they do not biodegrade, although scientists are working to formulate a new biodegradable plastic. (http://Encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553604_5/plastics.html)
The American Plastics Council has helped to promote the recycling of plastics, aware of the consequences if the process gets ignored. As a result, plastics recycling has tripled since 1990, reaching over 1,700 facilities and businesses dealing with recovering post-consumer plastics. In 2001, post-consumer plastic bottle recycling had also increased by 80 million pounds reaching an astonishing 1,591 million pounds, an all time high for this business. The APC began tracking plastic recycling in 1989, and the increase in 2001 represented an overall increase of 580 percent in collected pounds since the council began. (http://the Americanplasticscouncil.org/)
GLASS-
The main reason recycling glass is a necessity is that glass never decomposes. Therefore, when it is thrown in the garbage, the glass structure does not deteriorate over time. Glass is 100% recyclable and when it is melted during the recycling process, it melts at a lower temperature than glass in its raw form. Glass is created by mixing sand, soda and lime, and melted at 2,000 degree Fahrenheit. By mixing new glass with recycled glass, the temperature is brought down to around 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit, thus using less energy. By recycling glass, we save 30 gallons of fuel oil for every ton of crushed used glass.
The most common household glass containers used today are manufactured from soda-lime glass. Many different kinds of glass exist, the main uses of each glass categories are, drainage, aggregate, concrete items, glass products, glass sand, and filtration. An example of drainage glass would be septic tanks. Asphalt paving is considered and aggregate glass and a stepping stone is an example of a concrete item. Fiberglass is a glass product and sandblasting and landfill covering is considered a type of glass sand. Lastly, filtering sand for septic tank systems is one type of a filtration glass.
Facts, such as those mentioned above, are inspiration for universities to get involved in recycling programs as well as the overwhelming amount of waste from students. One such university realized the impact of the wasted resources of their students and implemented a recycling program. Massey University started this program because of the high level of concern and interest shown by the students (Mason, 2003).
Similar to Massey University, Miami University initiated a recycling program and by 1999 Miami Recycles was established (History of Recycling, 2003). In 2000, Miami Recycles set a new record with more than $180,000 worth of savings in landfill fees. In the following year, Miami beat Ohio University in Recycle Mania which is the inner school recycling competition. MiamiÕs recycling program was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency for extending the waste reduction program outside of the campus. Miami was recognized along with five other universities for the reduction efforts of waste. There were 36 Wastewise awards for honorable mention nationwide available for companies, municipalities, and schools and Miami University earned one of these. Wastewise is an EPA program which is free and voluntary. It helps the U.S. organizations benefit the environment by eliminating municipal solid waste. Miami accounted for 2,200 tons of recycled materials last year. This helped to eliminate their landfill transporting and allows expansion of the materials recovery facility because of the increasing amount of materials being recycled. Miami has been put over the 60% rate in recycling because the residence hall students and staff have improved the rate from 4% to 35% in one year (Brown, 2003). Mary Lyon was among the top of those in the competitions. In the year 2001, Mary Lyon won the award for the most recycled per person, weighing in at 63 pounds per person. This caught our eye at the beginning of this project and helped inspire this idea for our student generated lab. Peabody has also encouraged recycling by displaying interesting facts in the dorm. This helps to educate and encourage the residents of the dorm to take advantage of the opportunity to recycle. Recycling is encouraged and easily implemented because there are bright-colored recycle cans in every room and bins for all recyclable materials, such as glass/plastics, aluminum cans, and paper, in each hall. When all is said and done, students are left with the power to decide whether or not they will recycle and contribute to the well being of our environment.
Methods
We began our study by contacting Logan Minning, a former advisor to MiamiÕs recycling program, through email about recycling at Miami University and requested a phone interview to get more in depth answers about the recycling program on campus. This conversation led us to contact Brenda Scott, Head of Recycling in Academic Buildings, and she referred us to Patty Stewart (house manager for Peabody) and Debbie Richardson (house manager for Mary Lyon, Clawson, and Havighurst). Once we contacted them, we were able to find out the days and times that the recycling was taken out from the dumpsters for each dorm. This did not directly tell us when the cleaning crew took the recycling from each bin inside the dorms. We talked to staff members that clean each building and were told that the recycling was taken out when necessary. This meant that we had to collect at the same exact times and work around what we could not control (when the recycling was taken out of the bins). Our group split up into pairs and each pair was responsible for collecting the data in two of the four dorms that we tested. For instance, Leah and Wendy were responsible for the recyclable items in Havighurst and Clawson, while Laura and Liz were in charge of Peabody and Mary Lyon. We initially planned on collecting the recyclables from Mary Lyon, Clawson, and Havighurst on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. and Peabody every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. Since the trash was taken to the dumpsters on those days we changed our schedule to take the trash from Peabody every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. Since this schedule became confusing, we decided to follow the schedule of PeabodyÕs pick up for all of the dorms. We collected our data for three weeks straight.
The items we collected were aluminum, glass, plastic, and paper. With each group of items collected in a single dorm, we weighed, in pounds, to have a better idea of how much was actually being recycled. We used rubber gloves and stood on the scale holding the bags, and then we found the weight and subtracted our weight before holding the bags to get the weight of only the bags of recyclables. We had to make sure that there wasnÕt any liquid inside of the bottles so we had to pour out the leftover liquid to get the accurate weights and we also took off the caps. After we collected and weighed all of our data, we divided the weight of the recycled objects found in each dorm by how many students are living there. There are 145 students residing in Peabody, 82 in Mary Lyon, 118 in Clawson, and 296 students in Havighurst. This will give us a density that we can compare statistically to measure a difference. We used data tables that were imported into statistical software to do an ANOVA and t-test to document our data and use statistics to validate or reject our null hypothesis.
Results
Our recycling analysis proved that there is a statistical difference between the recycling habits of Western students and Main Campus students and that we rejected the null hypothesis. To determine these results, we used ANOVA tests, ScheffeÕs test, t-tests and a means table. An ANOVA test (Analysis Of Variance) is a statistical test that is used to determine if more than two independent populations have the same mean, which is similar to the t-test. The ANOVA test shows us the p-value and from there we can determine whether or not we reject the null hypothesis. SheffeÕs test applies to the set of estimates of all possible contrasts among the factor level means. SheffeÕs method tends to give narrower confidence limits and is therefore a preferred method. This test shows us the differences between the means for each dorm. The t-tests are another way of finding p-values. The means test is a t-test to show the average amount per pounds the students in each dorm recycle.
According to our tests and the p-values that were calculated, Mary Lyon and Peabody recycle more aluminum than Havighurst and Clawson. The Means Table shows, in the second column, the average amount of aluminum recycled per student. In the ANOVA test the p-value calculated was .0002. This is the confidence level of determining whether there is a statistical difference and since our value was less than .05, we reject the null. The Sheffe test shows the mean of each dorm compared to each other.
In the ANOVA table for plastics the p-value was less than .0001 which means we reject the null hypothesis because this is the confidence level that lets us determine that there is a statistical difference. The Means Table shows the average amount of plastic recycled per student. The Sheffe Table shows the mean differences between all of the dorms.
The ANOVA Table for glass gave us a .0132 p-value; this is the confidence level of determining whether there is a statistical difference. The Means Table shows the average amount of glass recycled by the students in the dorms we tested. The Sheffe Table shows us the mean differences between all the dorms.
The ANOVA Table for paper calculated that the p-value is .0034 and that proves that there is a statistical difference. The Means Table shows the average amount of paper recycled in pounds per student. The Sheffe Table shows us the mean differences between all the dorms. The only time a main campus dorm recycled more than a western dorm was between Clawson at .068 pounds per person compared to Peabody .049 pounds per person.
Discussion and Conclusion
After reviewing our graphs we found that overall, the Western students living in Peabody and Mary Lyon do recycle more than the main campus students in Clawson and Havighurst. However, one of our tests showed that Clawson recycles more paper than the residents of Peabody. Students whose majors require them to live in Peabody and Mary Lyon are enrolled in Western classes that are based on an interdisciplinary style of learning. The students who live in Clawson and Havighurst are not required to take courses that teach them about the importance of recycling. Environmental students are also required to live on Western Campus. While living together, environmental science majors may affect decisions that other students on Western make. We learn about the negative effects of trash on our environment and about how beneficial recycling is to the environment in Natural Systems and in Social Systems. During the process of this lab we have come up with questions for further investigation.
1) Did students recycle at home before coming to Miami? What is the studentÕs background (social class, race and gender?
2) What are the individual students in the 4 dorms intended majors?
3) Do just Western students learn about preserving the environment or is part of the ÒMiami PlanÕÕ?
4) Does it have to do with political views?
5) Was there more recycled aluminum in Peabody and Mary Lyon since there alcohol consumption rules are more lenient for Western students?
6) Would a survey help to find out who contributes what amount of recyclables in each dorm?
Timeline
-Collected background information on recycling and Miami Recycles.
-E-mailed Logan Minning about the recycling program at the University
-After not hearing back from Logan, we called Housing and Dining to get pick up schedules for the recycling dumpsters outside Peabody, Clawson, Havighurst and Mary Lyon.
-Determined collection days to be Sunday, Thursday, and Tuesday.
-Presented to class and had first collection day with the rest of the class participating in our data collection.
-Continued with collection for 3 weeks
-Entered data into an Excel spreadsheet and got numbers for pounds per person.
-Transferred data from Excel to Statview and analyzed numbers to get P-values for each type of material recycled.
-Created a PowerPoint presentation to share our results with the class.
-Put all references, data, and conclusions together to form a final lab packet.
References
[1] Dorairaj Ramesh, Everett Jess W., Maratha Sumit, Riley Patrick. Curbside Collection of Recyclables I: Route Time Estimation Model. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 22, 1998:177-192.
[2] Schaffer Paul. Aluminum Can Recycling Rate Drops to 55.4% in Õ01. American Metal Market, April 30, 2002.
[3] Walker Jesse. Recycling Is an Economic Activity, Not a Moral Imperative. American Enterprise, January 1999.
[4] Brattebo Helge, Klang Anders Klang, Vikman Per-Ake. Sustainable Management of Demolition Waste-An Integrated Model for the Evaluation of Environmental, Economic and Social Aspects. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 38, 2003:317-334.
[5] Berthier Hector. Garbage, Work and Society. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 39, 2003:193-210.
[6] Mason I.G., Brooking A.K., Oberender A., Harford J.M., Horsley P.G. Implementation of a Zero Waste Program at a University Campus. Resource, Conservation and Recycling 38 (2003(, 257-269.
[7] Soderman Maria. Including Indirect Environmental Impacts in Waste Management Planning. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 38, 2003:213-241.
[8] McKelfresh Dave. Reasons That Recycling is Important. The RecyclerÕs Handbook, 1990.
[9] Dorairaj Ramesh, Everett Jess W, Maratha Sumit, Riley Patrick. Curbside Collection of Recyclables II: Route Time Management. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 22, 1998:217-240.
[10] Fullerton Don, Kinnaman Thomas C. The Economics of Household Garbage and Recycling Behavior. Resources, Conservation and Recycling 38, 2003:255-256.
[11] Brown David. Survey Shows Miami Among Top Universities in Recycling. Journal News, December 28, 2001. http://www.pfd.muohio.edu/images/recycling/recM_PR12-2001.jpg.
[12] Unknown Author. Recycling: How Can You Help? June 3, 2002. http://www.units.muohio.edu/dragonfly/save/recycling.shtml.
[13] Unknown Author. Miami Recycles. 2001. http://www.pfd.muohio.edu/recycling/index.jsp.
[14] Unknown Author. Recycling Facts. 2001. http://www.pfd.muohio.edu/recycling/request.jsp?req=ft
[15] Unknown Author. Municipal Solid Waste-Recycling. March 26, 2003. http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/recycle.htm.
[16] Unknown Author. http://www.recyclingit.com/recyfact2.htm
[17] http://newsinfo.muohio.edu/news_display.cfm?mu_un_id=20150270 website to the Miami recycling honorable mention from the EPA
[18] Anchorage Recycling Center, aluminum recycling
http://www.anchoragerecycling.com/alumfact.htm
[19]
http://www.aluminum.org/Content/NavigationMenu/News_and_Stats/CansForHabitat_org/Aluminum_Recycling/Aluminum_Recycling.htm
[20] The Aluminum Association, Inc. About Aluminum Recycling
http://www.aluminum.org/Template.cfm?Section=About_Aluminum_Recycling
[21] http://theAmericanplasticscouncil.org/
[22] http://www.sustainableworld.org.uk/recyc_glass.htm
[23] http://www.eastbourne.gov.uk/Your_Environment/Recycling/recycling_glass.asp
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