Editorial

A wasteful conscience

The recycling bins spotted around campus and in the academic buildings may lead one to believe that the University cares about the environment. And therein lies the difference between appearance and reality. While Rider does recycle a certain amount of trash, it is far less than what should be achieved.

The Rider News was planning an in-depth article regarding this impropriety. However, the reporter was at first dismissed by an apparently uninformed member of Facilities Management. Upon later contact, Facilities Director Michael Reca supplied him with minimal information, including the fact that only 15 percent of Rider trash is recycled.

Students and faculty gave eyewitness reports to The News that Facilities, upon collecting trash, was mixing recyclables with ordinary rubbish. It claimed that the trash was sorted again into separate dumpsters but nobody came forward to support that assertion. Rider does have separate receptacles for aluminum and plastic, paper and cardboard and ordinary waste. Though the two bins designated for recycling do have material in them, the “middle dumpster” of trash contains a significant number of potentially recyclable items, which supports the conclusion that Rider does not do the alleged sorting.

New Jersey state law mandates that the commercial sector, of which Rider is a part, recycles office paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, aluminum and newsprint. The University is only doing the bare minimum required by this legislation. However, the law hardly ever reflects the ethical standards that should be met by a conscientious community.

Rider, as an educational institution, has the moral responsibility to recycle as much as possible. Students are led to believe that by placing their recyclables into the designated bins and yellow cans, they are contributing to protecting a small bit of the environment. If the allegations are true that the University is putting the material meant for recycling into ordinary dumpsters, then the administration has to do some serious explaining.

New Jersey is the second largest exporter of waste in the country, with 1.8 million tons in 2000, according to Biocycle magazine. The amount of garbage produced by Americans increased by over 26 million tons in the past year, but the percentage recycled dropped a point to only 32. The average American now throws away nearly a ton of waste per year. How can Rider contribute to this wastefulness without a guilty conscience? It should be doing everything in its power to recycle as much as possible of its contribution to this large amount of trash.

Ironically, Rider’s theme program this year is Ethics and Social Responsibility. How is the University setting an example of social responsibility if it does not make a valiant effort to tackle the issue of recycling, one of the most basic ways to help protect the environment. Rider should actively encourage students to be responsible in recycling, while pursuing the same goal as an institution. It should also increase the percentage recycled on an annual basis, and make public the files concerning the statistics of its trash disposal. As a student body and institution, Rider can make a large impact on the environment for better . . . or for worse.

With this lack of care for the environment stacked on top of the irresponsible use of students’ Social Security numbers that was examined last week, the University shows a great amount of pomposity in asserting that it is a moral institution. Before Rider can effectively teach ethical and social responsibility, it must first live up to the same standards that it places upon its students.