ETSU’s trash cans should begin to feel a little lighter this week. Two weeks into the school year, students are beginning to see something they have rarely seen on campus: namely, a recycling program that will include some dormitories and multiple educational buldings.
“Recycling bins are going up this week,” said Kathleen Moore, manager of the maintenance grounds.
Moore said every building will eventually have recycling bins, some will be inside the buildings and others will be outside.
When all the bins have been placed, some will have two on each floor, others will have them outside the building next to the dumpsters. There will be large recycling stations located at the Culp Center, Governor’s Hall, Buc Ridge and Buc Village.
Dr. Kelly Price, assistant professor of marketing at ETSU and member of the recycling committee and faculty senate, said that some bins have been purchased, but because of the expense there are not enough funds for the bins to be placed all over campus.
The bins that have been purchased will be going in high traffic areas, like outside the D.P. Culp Center, in Brown and Rogers-Stout halls.
The recycling receptacles showed up in Warf-Pickel Hall on Friday morning. The containers have bright blue lids and have legs like an ironing board. There are clear plastic bags so the recyclables will be viewable. The containers sit in pairs, one for plastic and one for aluminum.
This goes along with what Chris Dula, assistant professor of psychology, said, “If you make it convenient, people will do it.”
This is an “in-house” recycling program, and the university is working in cooperation with the city of Johnson City to get this program going.
Federal work-study students will ride around in golf carts to pick up the recycling.
Price said that every building will have a recycling representative. “We hope that by having representatives the communication between administration, staff and the recycling committee can thrive.”
These representatives will be in charge of letting the committee members know how the efforts are going in each building, and giving or receiving feedback on how to improve the process.
The university also is planning to hire a recycling coordinator.
“This person will be vital to the success of the initiative and will be responsible and oversee all recycling efforts,” Price said.
Moore said the Initiative for Clean Energy (ICE) group on campus is the true driving force for this. They are partnered with a group on the website Facebook called “Recycle ETSU” that has been pushing for recycling on campus.
“It’s the right thing to do environmentally, and we’re saving money on landfill costs,” Moore said.
On Friday at Governors Hall there was a Green Party to celebrate the kick off of the environmentally friendly initiatives.
Price said Governors Hall is a model dorm that future dorms will be following. Recycling bins are already located in this dorm.
The university hopes to add bins to all the dorms in the future. Until now, ETSU has recycled paper, cardboard, scrap metal, plant debris and tires. Now, the university will also recycle aluminum and plastics.

Author