(photo by Joe Howell)
Creative recycling options abound at VMC
With the knowledge that the average person produces 4.6 pounds of waste per day, groups around Vanderbilt Medical Center are working to reuse and recycle, instead of letting the landfills pile up.
Medical student Benjamin Dean and Rachel Henry, Ph.D., take part in a project to expand the recycling program to include lab plastics. (photo by Joe Howell)
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine has one of the institution's most robust recycling programs, thanks to enthusiastic students and a supportive Environmental Services staff.
Daris Merriweather and Larry McKissack supervise the program and manage the recycling operations, along with Freddie Easley, assistant director for Facilities and Operations.
Merriweather said recycling began about 25 years ago with cardboard and paper collection. Since then, medical students have attempted to add aluminum and plastic recycling, but interest waned until about five years ago when a new group of students got involved.
Nicole John was the catalyst behind the Department of Neurology's recycling efforts. (photo by Joe Howell)
Now recycling bins for paper, aluminum and plastic are placed in all School of Medicine buildings, stretching from Preston Research Building to Medical Research Building III.
“Initially when it was proposed, we were apprehensive about how much we were getting into, but the students have been very dedicated. They are really environmentally-conscious and a fun group to work with,” Easley said.
The Department of Neurology has come up with a variety of ways for staff and faculty to recycle, including bins for everything from used CDs to batteries and cell phones. (photo by Joe Howell)
There are two motivations to recycle, according to Merriweather.
“We want to help save mother earth as much as possible, but it's also offsetting costs. The vendor doesn't charge to pick up recyclables and shares the profits with us,” he explained.
There is also less waste, which means smaller transport and landfill fees.
Benjamin Dean, a first-year student in the Medical Science Training Program, is a member of the latest student effort, VMS Sustain, and says its main focus is on education.
“We want to target the newest students and not say 'Please recycle,' but 'Here is how you recycle.' As new students come in, we want to make recycling a habit,” Dean said.
Easley agreed that education is a key component.
“One wrong item can contaminate the whole load,” he said. “The most frustrating part is getting cans half full of trash because people don't read the signs.”
Within the last year, Rachel Henry, a recent Ph.D. graduate from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and Curtis Lee Gabriel, a second-year MSTP student, expanded the recycling program to lab plastics.
Gabriel was inspired to start the program when he saw the amount of plastic thrown away in the lab, especially boxes for pipette tips. He spoke with Merriweather about the guidelines, and they formulated a plan: labs put plastic recycling in a labeled cardboard box and place it by recycling bins. Then Environmental Services staff collects the boxes and checks that nothing inside is contaminated.
“People just have to know what to do,” Gabriel said. “If a program is in place with a sign telling you how to recycle, it just takes seconds to actually do it.”
“This particular group shouldn't be hard to motivate,” Henry added. “People aren't attracted to medical and research fields for the money; they do it because they want to make a difference. They also care about the environment and will make the small effort needed if the infrastructure is available.”
Adrian Jarquin-Valdivia, M.D., assistant professor of Neurology, claims that the Department of Neurology is possibly the “greenest” clinical department at VMC.
The department's recycling efforts, spearheaded by Jarquin-Valdivia and Nicole John, program coordinator, include bins for the usual items like paper and plastic, but also ink cartridges, wire hangers from dry cleaning, CDs and DVDs, batteries and cell phones.
There are also stations to place unwanted equipment like telephones, video cards and printers that others may be able to use.
The department has also made an effort to make their conference lunches more green.
“An important effort for the project is talking to caterers and getting them involved to the point that if they cannot go green, we will choose other vendors,” Jarquin-Valdivia said.
Now the recyclables from the lunches, which include drink cans and cardboard packaging, far outweigh the trash.
For other departments that want to start recycling, John recommends placing bins in convenient locations and having encouraging leaders.
“It needs one or two champions who can push and engage others. Changing behaviors takes time and persistence,” Jarquin-Valdivia said.
“You have to lead by example. Just keep doing it and reiterate it until it sticks,” John added.
“It's for the future because everyone is affected by the waste we throw away. It just takes small steps.”
Merriweather said people are also welcome to bring their recyclables to the School of Medicine collection points.
For more information on recycling or Vanderbilt's other sustainability programs, visit the SustainVU Web site at www.vanderbilt.edu/sustainvu.