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On the Job with the Integrated Waste and Moving Services

What do people think you do?
“Run the recycling program.”

What do you really do?
“I run the integrated waste and recycling programs. I like to look in our trash bins around campus and find ways to recycle items that we couldn’t in the past. I am also the manager of the Moving Services crew. Summer is Moving Service’s busiest time, because many people want to swap offices or have their offices painted or remodeled, which requires moving their furniture. Lots of new furniture comes on campus in the summer, too, and the old stuff has to be moved. For example, this summer we received 700 new tablet armchairs to replace aging ones. I try to find second homes for the old chairs with schools or non-profit organizations. My favorite thing to do is speak to campus groups about our recycling program.”

Describe your office.
“We have a small office in the back of the Facilities yard that houses four movers, one or two student assistants and me. I have a window overlooking the trash, green waste and metal roll-off bins, which is fun because if I see someone tossing something recyclable in the trash, I can open the window and say, ‘Hey, that can be recycled!’”

What surprises people?
“That our paper recycling is ‘Supermix’ and we can include clasp and window envelopes, phone books, glossy paper and copy paper wrappers in our blue desk-side recycling bins. Also, I think people are delighted that we diverted 83.7% of our waste from the landfill in 2007. And we do a lot of recycling behind the scenes that people don’t know about like our tires, carpet and concrete rubble.”

What is your biggest challenge?
“My biggest challenge is getting people to visit the very informative integrated waste/recycling website at www.fm.csus.edu/iwm (or click on the yellow recycling button on the Facilities home page).  We are doing so much at Sac State, and the website tells you what we are doing and what you can do to help. A current challenge is that lately I’m seeing cardboard in the trash dumpsters, which surprises me because there’s always a cardboard recycling dumpster right next to it. We all should really make an effort to put cardboard in the recycling dumpsters because money earned on it offsets our trash bill a small amount.”

What do you get asked the most?
“’Can we get a toner and ink cartridge collection box for our office?’ The answer is yes, or there may be one already near you. Just call us to find out. The other question I get asked is, ‘How do we recycle our electronic waste?’ Guess where you can find the answer to that one? On the website.”