Recycling at SAIS
SAIS-ers see red over lack of green
By Nadav Davidai

SAIS is such a well reputed policy school that mere International Affairs

does not suffice – the descriptive “Advanced” must be attached in order to truly capture this school’s genius.

Yet for all the fanfare, recycling bins are teaming with food particles; Coke cans fill trash bins adjacent to empty recycling bins; and eyewitness accounts have caught our very own ABM janitorial staff leisurely throwing bags of uncontaminated recycling material into the regular trash behind SAIS. Under this massive weight of wasted recyclables, the planet is falling off its axis. 
 
Alright, so that last line was hyperbole, but this is not: until recently, recycling at SAIS has been abysmal. In a recently conducted poll, 93% of students are aware there are recycling bins on every floor of both Rome and Nitze. Despite this, only 60% recycle regularly at school while 28% admit that they throw whatever happens to be in their hands into whatever happens to be the closest bin to them. Furthermore, more students claim they recycle at home (83%) than do those who recycle at school.

How to explain the perplexing contradiction of industrious, conscientious students acting in such a seemingly slothful, bone-headed manner? Several arguments are made.

First, recycling at SAIS is not convenient enough.

“I think all the garbage/recycling bins need to be in the same place,” one student says. “Given options, people put things in the right one.”

Other students have complained that the right kind of recycling bins are not around when they want them to be, or that they are unsure about what item goes in which type of bin. Such issues are, apparently, more complicated and unsolvable than econometrics.

Yet another student contrarily claims that there are too many recycling bins at school.

“That is, there aren’t enough regular trash cans,” another student says. “For example, on the 7th floor in the library, I think you have to go all the way to the elevators to find a normal trash can . . . And unfortunately, I just don’t have the initiative to walk all the way down to the other end of the floor to throw something other than paper out. If there were a recycling can next to (or close to) a normal trash can, I would throw things away in the correct bin.”

Somewhere in the end of this explanation is the seed of another explanation: the lack of will required to walk 50 feet (or less!) to the appropriate bin. While some – like your green-leaning correspondent – see in this inadequacy sheer laziness, others – like Environment and Social Change Club (ESCC) President Rima Mutreja – are more gracious.

Mutreja believes what is needed at SAIS is an  awareness campaign to jolt the SAIS community into a greater sense of urgency and ownership for the recycling problem at their school. She believes that SAIS students don’t intentionally ignore recycling but merely have poor recycling habits. Just as they are passionate about higher ideals, they should apply that mentality to worthy day-to-day tasks all around them – like energy conservation and yes, recycling.

Another argument often expressed by these students is that their efforts will literally just be thrown away with the rest of the trash – so what is the point?

“Convenience is an issue,” another student says, “But I’m doubtful that any effort expended recycling – just making sure it goes in the right bin, for example - will ensure that the item is recycled. I think it’s more likely that I’m just choosing a different trash bin. Guarantee that my recycling will actually make its way to some processing plant and turned into a new bottle, and I’ll recycle.”

And indeed, numerous examples abound of the janitorial staff disregarding school policy and throwing recycling out with the trash. Prompted to grade the recycling performance of the faculty, ESCC Vice President Michael Obeiter offers a lowly grade of 4 out of 10. While there were many recycling bins, Obeiter admits, their locations are not ideal, and the labeling of bins are lacking. “A lot comes down to labeling,” Obeiter wisely proclaims.

Confronted with these issues, the Environment and Social Change Club has consulted with Director of Facilities Management Rolando Perez and Senior Associate Dean for Finance and Administration Ted Baker and taken decisive action. There has subsequently been a combination of grassroots and top-down efforts.

The top-down approach has been particularly vigorous. To combat the inconvenience argument, clearly labeled and properly topped recycling bins are now bunched together with a regular trash bin on every floor to avoid confusion.

To combat the “too convenient” argument, the small blue recycling bins have been removed from the library and placed in employee offices throughout SAIS, giving employees a convenient avenue to recycle as well.

To combat ABM-Gate, Mr. Perez has explicitly warned the janitorial company that their contract with SAIS stipulates their adherence to SAIS’s recycling policy, and is thus contingent on this adherence. Recycling bin liners are now colored blue to distinguish them from regular trash and to help prevent recyclables from mistakenly ending in the trash.

What, then, is the last impediment to a successful recycling campaign? The SAIS students themselves.

Acclaimed for being the leaders of tomorrow and seasoned scholars of international affairs, this bunch cannot even muster the motivation to exit the classroom and toss a Dasani bottle in the appropriate bin. These students, who are ostensibly taking $80,000 worth of debts for the selfless pursuit of and devotion to altruism, cannot manage even the simple task of tossing an aluminum can in the bin with the circular receptor. While the new recycling scheme has produced better results, it is still not uncommon to see that ubiquitous Coke bottle in the trash bin, now located right next to the recycling bin.

While the administration’s grade was a 4, Obeiter gives SAIS students a score of 2 out of 10. Obeiter says “it’s a given” that there will be trash in any given recycling bin at any time. Keep in mind, also, that the city considers recycling bins with food particles to be “contaminated” and will therefore throw out the entire bin if even one apple core goes astray. No longer is it the janitorial staff who undo all of the majority’s recycling efforts, but instead, a few of our own thoughtless SAIS students.

So what then is there to do? How to motivate this budding bunch of prima donnas into participating in the world’s easiest bit of conservation? Many of the SAIS community’s complaints of recycling have already been sufficiently addressed.

The only remaining issue is, perhaps, ensuring that recyclables actually get recycled. Beyond being defeatist, this argument is invalid. If that were the true and sole reason preventing you from your deep desire to recycle, why would you not simply raise the issue? Some students have done so, and indeed, the early results of this added pressure has so far been positive. Student monitoring missions have reported that recyclables are indeed ending up in their appropriate bin behind Nitze Building.

In the end, however, Ms. Mutreja is correct. What is needed is a

consistent information campaign to prod these future leaders from their Iran policy papers and World Bank interview preparations long enough to put their Snapple bottles in the bin to labeled “cans/bottles” instead of “regular trash.” This is where the grassroots efforts come into play. Emails from SGA and Dean Baker have been distributed to all students, and ESCC has put up recycling flyers around the school.

Beyond making students aware, I will add that it is important to shame students as well. A little bit of peer pressure (or “social monitoring” if you prefer) would help immeasurably. When SAIS students see other students throwing their recyclables in the trash or vice versa, they should make a point of it. Ladies, no more dates for your recycling-delinquent partners. TAs, use your power of the problem sets to make a difference!

This article was written in purposefully scathing language, I do not really believe, for example, that SAIS students are prima donnas, in order to draw attention to such a silly deficiency in our student body. This issue bothers me mostly because it is so fixable, and requires the most minimal effort and consideration.

Like in kindergarten when you had to put the star in the star box, recycling at SAIS is now “paint-by-color” easy. Put your white paper in the slots; your cans and bottles in the circles; if you get confused along the way, read the signs! Who said this school was so difficult?

Nadav Davidai is a 1st year MA candidate in Middle East Studies