Residence hall students can forget trekking outside to the dumpsters to recycle their cans and cardboard boxes. Starting this week, Housing and Food Services (HFS) is implementing a revised recycling plan in hopes of significantly reducing the amount of waste residence halls produce.

With the new single-stream bin program, students can recycle without leaving their floors or sorting items into separate containers.

HFS facilities manager Michael Glidden said the plan will make recycling convenient and simple.

"In the past, students had to take their paper and other recyclables to the dumpsters outside their residence halls," Glidden said. "Now, paper, glass bottles, cans, plastic containers and cardboard will be collected in new 96-gallon bins that have been placed on each residence hall floor for service by the building custodians."

Residence hall students returned from winter break to find notices on their doorknobs informing them which products are recyclable and which are meant for the trash.

Items, including aluminum cans, glass bottles, magazines and cardboard can be recycled, but HFS stresses that, among others, paper towels, batteries, zip-lock bags and plastic cups should be thrown away.

Lander Hall resident freshman Molly Larson said having such an accessible place to recycle is a long-awaited convenience.

"I always separate my recycling by habit since that's what I do at home," she said. "But since we didn't have recycling on our floor, I never got around to actually recycling what I'd separated from my trash. I would usually just end up throwing away my bag of recycling along with my bag of trash."

Sophomore Rachel Mathisen, associate director of SEED (Students Expressing Environmental Dedication), said she hopes the program will motivate at least a few students to start recycling.

"Many students would love to recycle but just don't have the time or the knowledge to do so effectively," Mathisen said. "The program eliminates that problem and makes recycling accessible to all residents in the halls without hassle."

SEED will have tables set up today in the Eleven 01 and McMahon 8 dining areas to answer questions about the new program. The SEED volunteers who worked with HFS to design the program will also be asking recycling trivia questions and giving out prizes in the dining halls throughout the day.