Stop. Think. Recycle.

For Terry Hall resident Erik Luthy, recycling isn't as easy as the slogan implies. When his Trader Joe's shopping bag, which serves as a makeshift recycling bin, accumulates a week's worth of cardboard cereal boxes and newspapers, Luthy makes the long trek to the recycling bins outside the residence hall.

"I have to go all the way down four staircases, walk past the kitchen, walk outside on the sidewalk a ways, and then walk by the parking lot to the loading dock just to get to the recycling bins by the dumpster," Luthy said. " Sometimes I get weird looks because people think that I'm a destitute guy sorting through the garbage cans."

Sophomore Tim Yang, director of Students Expressing Environmental Dedication (SEED), hopes to make recycling in the dorms more convenient. His dorm recycling pilot project scheduled to begin this spring.

"Recycling is very difficult in the dorms right now and recycling is often thrown away with garbage," Yang said. "Our main goal is to set up a custodian staff run to collect recycling from every floor and to show the administration students are interested in recycling."

Yang and SEED's 30 other members hope to set up a recycle bin on every floor of McCarty Hall's south tower during spring quarter. McCarty was chosen as the dorm to test this recycling project because of its proximity to garbage cans and the size of its garbage room, which is large enough to house an additional recycling bin.

To meet fire codes in the dorms, all recycling waste must be stored in a closed bin contained in a room equipped with a sprinkler system and an automatically closing door.

Michael Glidden, director of Housing and Food Services (HFS), said he was an active member of an environmentalist group while in college and supports SEED's efforts to make recycling more accessible in the dorms. But Glidden is concerned that adding a recycling run for custodians could lead to an increase in student fees.

"Glidden told me the main object of Housing and Food Service was to provide affordable housing for students and needs SEED to show him students will use this program without increasing costs," Yang said.

In an effort to track student use of recycling bins, Yang said he plans to weigh the amount being tossed daily. He hopes recycling will reduce the amount of garbage in the dorms so custodians will only have to make one garbage run per day instead of two.

"We hope to show we're reducing garbage so we won't add any time to the custodians' busy schedule," Yang said.

RHSA President Lee Dunsbar said he is excited to see the results of SEED's recycling project.

"I think students would use this program," Dunsbar said. "When I go to conference[s] at other schools, the focus isn't that big on recycling like it is here. I think students here are exceptionally conscious about recycling."

In an effort to bring recycling to all the dorms on campus in the future, SEED members plan to present their results on what worked and what didn't to the administration.

Yang said he hopes to make students more conscious of their impact on the environment by encouraging recycling.

"Recycling saves water, electricity, trees, and cuts back on pollution," Yang said. "Recycling is a small step that makes the world a better place."