Recycling How-To:

• Cardboard: Break down cardboard boxes, place besides recycling bin.
• Paper: Almost all paper is recyclable and should be placed in recycling bins.
• Bottle & Cans:  Bottles and cans can go into the recycling bins with paper or in a separate bottle/can recycling unit.  When possible, keep the cap on your bottles to prevent contamination.

Recycling Don’ts:

• Styrofoam & Plastics Bags: Plastic bags can be recycled at all Safeway stores and most food markets. Styrofoam remains a waste management problem and it is not recyclable yet!
• Food, Coffee Cups or Liquids: These consumables cannot go in the recycling containers. Liquids  and can contaminate recycled materials. Coffee cups are not recyclable. They are compostable.

Other Ways to Be Eco-friendly:

• Compost: The City College Recycling Department will be expanding compost collection in the near future — look for green composting bins.
• Ink & Toner Cartridges: Toner and ink are toxic to the environment and our health. Please do not put them into the garbage. Every campus has a toner/ink drop-off site. Contact your site manger for location.  At the Ocean Campus bring items to: Cloud Hall, Room 143.  Put them either in a box or some form of wrapping for proper disposal.
• E-waste: Computers, TV’s, video equipment, CDs, DVDs, cassettes, film, iPods, cell-phones, calculators. Contact the Recycling Department to make arrangements for pick up.
• Universal Waste or U-waste: U-waste includes fluorescent tubes, light bulbs, thermometers and lamp equipment.  Arrangements must be made with the Buildings and Grounds department for pick up.
• Batteries: At the Ocean campus batteries (not car batteries) can be recycled at collection bin sites at the main entrance of Smith Hall and at Cloud Hall on the 3rd floor.  Batteries can also be recycled at most neighborhood hardware stores and Walgreens stores.
• City Carshare: Share a car, reduce your carbon footprint. Ongoing enrollment. Sign up at www.citycarshare.org/ccsf . City College employees and full-time students receive a discount on the City Carshare membership fee.

Compost bins behind the culinary department contain food and paper products. Both containers contain materials that are completely compostable. CHRISTINA R. HERNANDEZ / GUARDSMAN

By Lauren Tyler
Staff Writer

Composting has been an uphill battle for the recycling department at City College due to the lack of knowledge on proper recycling and composting procedures according to Recycling Coordinator Carlita Martinez.

Almost all food scraps are compostable. Paper products, such as used paper plates and paper scraps are compostable as well. Plastic, glass and aluminum however, are not but have a home in the recycling bin, said Martinez.

Recycling and composting have both been highly utilized over the past year at City College, with approximately 55 percent of the 2000 tons of waste generated from City College in 2007 being diverted from the main waste stream according to an annual report generated by the recycling department.

The majority of the waste at City College is “compostable, some recyclable, but mostly compostable,” said Martinez.

California had originally set a goal of 50 percent diversion in 2002, according to the State’s Integrated Waste Management Board Web site. For the city and county of San Francisco, the same diversion goal was set in 2000, though the city and county’s goal is now 75 percent, which, Martinez said, “is uniquely San Francisco.”

Presently, there are a few departments at City College involved in composting. The Culinary Arts and Hospitality Department has increased their composting containers from four to twelve over the last year.

After beginning to compost, they now avoid over “100 pounds of waste [from] a considerable amount of eggs and food trim per day,” said chief instructor chef Keith Hammerich.

Also, the graphic arts department plays a vital role in the development of a stronger recycling department by providing poster art and literature seen throughout the school. Each semester a new series of art promoting a more environmentally conscientious school is developed.

City College student Jaz Vassar said she believes there should be an environmental prerequisite.

“Once you know, it’s hard to go back,” said Vassar.

Kristina Lewis, another City College student, feels that it is just ignorance that is hindering City College from becoming a more sustainable campus.

Vassar and Lewis both recycle at home but composting still has yet to catch up.

“I hope I am doing my part,” said Lewis.

Martinez said that hopefully environmental literacy will become part of the class catalog, allowing the recycling department to reach students on broader level.