Dorms issue grades for recycling efforts

The Deptartment of Housing released its January green report card in an effort to show how residence halls are contributing to DePaul's goal of eco-friendliness and sustainability awareness.

The report card designates a grade for each residence hall based on how much they recycled over the course of the month. According to Tessa VanPaepeghem, Marketing and Communication Manager for the Dept. of Housing, the waste company Allied Waste analyzes DePaul's trash and recycling and determines the grade from there.

The report card is published on a white board in all of the participating residence halls, as well as on the sustainability section of the housing website.

VanPaepeghem said environmental awareness is very important to the department. A student-led Green Team helps promote the findings of the report card, as well as contributing to other sustainability efforts around campus.

"It really is a department-wide standard that we hold ourselves to," VanPaepeghem said. "It starts from the grassroots."

She also believes it's important to educate students at this point in their lives while they are developing habits and making lifestyle choices.

"These students are our future," she said.

Freshman Erin Yarnall lives in Clifton-Fullerton Hall, which received a B+ in January's report. Yarnall and her roommate both recycle in their room, and she believes it's simple habit to develop.

"I think it's more of a ‘why not' as opposed to a ‘why,'" she said. "It's just lazy not to. Recycling is such an easy thing to do, and it helps out the environment so much."

Being green is also helpful for the planet and makes life safer for the people who live in it, according to Yarnall. With that in mind, she was pleased to learn that DePaul advocates for going green.

"It makes me proud to be a part of a school that is trying so hard to be very eco-friendly," she said. "A lot of people need to be educated on the topics of going green and being eco-friendly, so I think it's good that DePaul is very environmentally conscious and teaches us to be as well."

The highest scorers for January were Sheffield Square and Sanctuary Hall. UAC Residence Director Christy Shipyor said this is due to UAC's intense commitment to sustainability.

"A lot of residents here are fairly conscious about sustainability," she said.

UAC has promoted a greener lifestyle by challenging residents to eat a vegetarian diet for a week and utilize reusable grocery bags. Additionally, Shipyor said UAC hopes students will be able to grow plants in their rooms in the spring and plant them in a courtyard.

The resident advisors in UAC are also passionate about eco-friendliness, and Shipyor believes this is a good model for residents. For example, one of their RA's is interested in a university-wide pursuit of white rooftops, which reflect sunlight instead of absorbing it.

"It's just cool that RA's are even talking about that," Shipyor said.

"It helps when you have a staff that values that," she added.

As for the rest of the residence halls and their residents, Shipyor said the smallest change in one's habits could make the biggest difference.