By Jaclyn Burke & Katie Lackey
Student Reporters
A conversational panel met Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in Alva, Enid and Woodward to discuss ways to take action toward recycling in Northwest Oklahoma.
Chris Satterfield, CORE president, and Stephanie Quammen, CORE vice president, moderated the conversation between the panelists.
The panelists were Janet Cunningham, Northwestern’s president; Chris Feeney, president of Keep Enid Green; Deena Fisher, Woodward dean; Bo Hannaford, Northwestern’s dean of professional studies and Alva city councilman; Eric Hemphill, University of Central Oklahoma sustainability coordinator; Wayne McMillin, Enid dean; Kelly Parker, Alva mayor and Nick Villalobos, Northwestern’s SGA vice president.
The conversation allowed for interaction with the audience which consisted of students, faculty and citizens of Northwest Oklahoma.
Cunningham discussed Northwestern’s history in recycling. She said the University tried to recycle glass, aluminum cans and paper, but there is no site nearby to take the recyclables. She said the university does recycle cardboard. Cunningham said, “We get something started and it works for a little while, but we have to travel.” She said there is no facility in or near Alva, but working with the city of Alva to start recycling is certainly a possibility.
Parker said a challenge of starting a recycling facility in Alva in having the means and knowledge base to move forward. “The last thing we want to see is something we start that we haven’t been fully prepared to start and have it not succeed,” he said. “That would just take an additional amount of time to get it fired back up again.”
Fisher said people want to recycle and a facility was tried in Woodward, but it wasn’t profitable. Parker said the area is faced will funding challenges and the amount of possible participation would be a concern.
Fischer said participation itself isn’t the real concern because people want to recycle, but Kelly said isolation is a big issue Northwest Oklahoma faces. “No one city can do this on their own, but it’s possible if it was a multi community project.”
Cunningham said there are recycling Rangers in Enid, who are children who come together, wear a red cape and be recycling heroes. This was created to get children excited about recycling.
In terms of education and starting up a culture of recycling McMillin said “why not start with the very youngest kids? If you start the kids talking about recycling and understanding that process and getting involved, I think you’re really going to educate the entire community
McMillin said they are working towards starting a culture for recycling. A few things have been started across the NWOSU campuses such as making sure lights are off in rooms not being used and water bottle refill stations.
Parker said the city is not currently working on a plan for recycling. He said recycling is more complex than he knows the complexity of, but the conversation is a good starting point for the city.
While the area waits and prepares for a recycling facility, there are other options for going green. Cunningham said the cafeteria has already gone tray less, which helps cut down on wasted food. She said students can also be proactive about printing because there is a paper usage issue. Reusing or donating items such as microwaves or any other unwanted items at the end of the semester is another option.