Blue bins not green enough

UVUSA’s attempts to go green have been an important step to making UVU environmentally friendly, but have they taken the best step?

We have new recycling bins and we have new biodegradable and recycled products being sold, but there are still obstacles we must face and so much more that we can and need to do when it comes to preserving the environment.

One step that has yet to be taken is providing alternative options for drying our hands, instead of paper towels. Paper towels are one of the most used paper products on campus and all they become is waste. There is a possible solution to this problem though – making the one-time investment in air hand dryers, which use little energy and save us from using all of the towels tossed away in overflowing waste bins every single day that we are unable to recycle.

Look at it this way, the price per Allied air hand dryers are $86 each and we need only replace the number of existing towel dispensers. Each roll of towels costs $6.50 and we use approximately 150 rolls per month, which comes to about $1000 per month. For the same price we spend on paper towels, we could purchase 136 air dryers. It doesn’t take much math to see that replacing these dispensers with blowers makes good financial sense, not to mention good environmental sense.

The UVUSA has purchased 1000 small recycling bins for $3.12 each, 350 wall huggers for $28.64 each, 25 tilt wheel containers for $83.50 each, plus the recycled materials transportation fee and vehicle upkeep cost for $120-$150 per month. All this sums to about $15,000. A similar investment could purchase 175 air blowers and save thousands of dollars. Air hand dryers would cost less and be a huge leap in the attempt to make our campus greener.

The UVUSA’s efforts to providing recycling options for paper has come this far but it cannot stop here. If they really want to go green to the fullest then this alternative option for drying our hands in the bathroom needs to be the next step they take. Following through with this could turn a good idea into something great.