Whether it’s your empty soda bottle, food waste from the Cougareat or lawn and bush clippings, it all ends up at BYU’s Material Handling Area.
BYU senior Colleen Barnes said she used to wonder, like many students, if recycling on campus really makes a difference.
"I had heard that recycling at BYU is fake. And I was like, is this true?" she said.
She now knows the truth: Every year BYU recycles around 1,400 tons of paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and aluminum cans.
Bill Rudy, the recycling and solid waste supervisor, has worked at BYU for 25 years. He said students are not recycling as much as they could.
"We shouldn't be throwing away things that have value," Rudy said.
Barnes recently took the position of sustainability project manager on BYU's sustainability team.
"I think it's honestly a mindset because it's hard to think the one bottle you recycle is going to make a difference," she said.
Barnes is leading the way to change that mindset.
"I hold onto my bottles when I’m at home, and I have this little bag, so I'll bring them onto campus, and I’ll recycle them on campus because where I live, there isn’t recycling," she said.
Recycled materials make their way to BYU's Material Handling Area where they get sorted. BYU also composts 2,000 tons of organic material every year.
Russ Stoker oversees the entire process of turning waste from campus into mulch or soil.
"Every bit of mulch on campus comes from our production," he said.
The process starts with campus tree trimmings. Food waste like whey from the Creamery and scraps from the Cougareat also get added to the compost piles.
"Our gardeners do a really good job here at BYU, so we can provide them with really high-quality material," Stoker said.
After 10-12 weeks, the compost is ready to be used.
"We monitor temperatures and moisture, and then we haul it back here and we run it through our trummel," Stoker said. "It has screens in it so all the fine material will fall out."
Students can even contribute food scraps at various collection points around campus, including one by the Life Sciences greenhouse.
"Getting into this habit of thinking, okay, 'How can I be a better steward of the planet that we have?' is so important," Barnes said.
Rudy said BYU's recycling and composting programs save money, reduce waste and keep campus green in the spring and summer.