Inaugural Trash Sort Kicks Off Environmental Stewardship Movement

James Madison University’s College of Business (CoB) held a trash sorting event on October 16, 2015 where a group of nearly 20 students and faculty gathered outside of Zane Showker Hall to dig through bags of trash from our building to separate the recyclable material from the trash going to the landfill. The event was designed to raise awareness about the large amount of recyclables that are placed in non-recycle trash bins.

The trash sort caught the attention of many individuals within the CoB, including Dr. Bruce Brunton, Assistant Professor of Economics. When asked why he chose to get involved Brunton responded, “I’m a proponent of recycling, I think it’s a great thing. The school is getting better at it but there is always more [we] can do.”

Student Allison Zeppuhar, who offered up her thoughts on recycling and how it could be improved in the CoB, said, “I think it might be helpful to have signs near the recycle bins that show what’s recyclable and what’s not because a lot of times I’m just not sure.”

Through the event we learned that around 40% of the trash collected over a three day period from regular trash bins could have been recycled. Ren Oliver, Administrative Assistant in the Dean's Office said that the CoB is planning on having another trash sort in the spring with a goal of improving our recycling rate by 20%. This event marks the beginning of a movement in the CoB to promote social responsibility and environmental stewardship.

The College of Business and the Dean’s Office would like to thank the Madison Marketing Association (MMA), Beta Gamma Sigma, Financial Management Association, Student Diversity Council and Sigma Iota Epsilon for participating in the trash sort.