2008 Woodie Awards
College of Dentistry sorts through waste
Mike McDonald - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 9/18/08 Section: Metro
During the characterization, participants sorted items from the trash into several bins marked for each type of recyclable. Once items were properly categorized, volunteers weighed the bins to determine how much recyclable waste the college sends to the dump each year.
The college has a diverse waste stream compared with other areas of campus - with garbage consisting of dental bibs, blue patient gowns, floss, and contamination packets made of both paper and plastic - and officials are still determining which items are recyclable.
In 2007, the school recycled 14 percent of its refuse, according to the Iowa City landfill, which is well below the UI's 25 percent average. That's a statistic that Ali Fakhry, the head of the dental school's initiative hopes to change.
"[Recycling] is where we need to improve," he said with his purple collar poking out of his Michelin man-like anti-contamination suit. "We've been bad for 30 years, but give us a few more months, and we will have an effective impact."
Last year, members of the Environmental Coalition conducted a similar study for the Pentacrest buildings. It resulted in a grant from Coca-Cola to buy more than 100 recycling bins, which were distributed around the UI main campus and UIHC this semester.
Although it's too soon to tell whether the dental school will obtain a grant to enhance its recycling efforts, Fakhry said he plans to hold monthly meetings with staff members - starting Oct. 1 - to discuss the data and make sure the college stays as clean as a set of freshly polished teeth.
"We are going to keep bombarding them until we see change," he said. "We really want to improve environmental efforts at the college."
E-mail DI reporter Mike McDonald at:
michael-d-mcdonald@uiowa.edu
The college has a diverse waste stream compared with other areas of campus - with garbage consisting of dental bibs, blue patient gowns, floss, and contamination packets made of both paper and plastic - and officials are still determining which items are recyclable.
In 2007, the school recycled 14 percent of its refuse, according to the Iowa City landfill, which is well below the UI's 25 percent average. That's a statistic that Ali Fakhry, the head of the dental school's initiative hopes to change.
"[Recycling] is where we need to improve," he said with his purple collar poking out of his Michelin man-like anti-contamination suit. "We've been bad for 30 years, but give us a few more months, and we will have an effective impact."
Last year, members of the Environmental Coalition conducted a similar study for the Pentacrest buildings. It resulted in a grant from Coca-Cola to buy more than 100 recycling bins, which were distributed around the UI main campus and UIHC this semester.
Although it's too soon to tell whether the dental school will obtain a grant to enhance its recycling efforts, Fakhry said he plans to hold monthly meetings with staff members - starting Oct. 1 - to discuss the data and make sure the college stays as clean as a set of freshly polished teeth.
"We are going to keep bombarding them until we see change," he said. "We really want to improve environmental efforts at the college."
E-mail DI reporter Mike McDonald at:
michael-d-mcdonald@uiowa.edu
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