Recycling at Peterhouse
Everyone has heard of the Three R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and the first two are pretty easy to put into practice - turning off lights as you leave the room, reusing bags when you go to Sainsbury's, etc., but the third one is often made a bit more difficult by a severe lack of facilities - a lack which is, unfortunately, evident in Peterhouse. For the time being, anyway.
The hard work of the previous Green Officer, Jenny, has already paid off, and last year more recycling facilities appeared around college. But there is still loads to be done. Here is the current state of affairs regarding recycling at Peterhouse:
Glass: It is possible for you Freshers to recycle your inevitable abundance of glass bottles from your rooms in a large glass recycling bin round the far side of SPT. However, next year I'm hoping to get a glass recycling box put in each house, both in SPT and in Fitz Street, at the bottom of WSB, and in the staircases in college, to make it even easier and more convenient for you.
Paper: The same goes for paper. There is a paper recycling box in the Plodge, but that can seem a bit of a hike with a whole load of paper, so again I'm hoping to get paper recycling bins installed in each house to be collected on a regular basis.
Cardboard: At the moment, you can't recycle cardboard in college, but I'm working on it!
Batteries and Ink Cartridges: There are currently no facilities for recycling batteries or ink cartridges, but batteries in particular are incredibly damaging when thrown out and dumped in landfill sites, so the aim is to get a bin put in the Plodge for these as soon as possible, and a bin in the Computer Room for computer ink cartridges.
Cans and Plastic Bottles: Once again, college is lacking in facilities for these materials, but hopefully, by the end of the year, it will be possible to recycle these too.
Lots to do. I'm going to do my utmost to get it changed, but if any of you feel strongly about environmental issues and would like to get on board with improving the situation regarding recycling in college, then please do get in touch - any help would make this process so much easier and more effective.
But even if that sounds too hideously boring to even contemplate, please please please make use of the current and future recycling facilities - it doesn't take much effort, but really does have a considerable effect. Thanks.
Laura Wellesley (Charities, Campaigns & Environment Officer, 2007-08)