Conservation Facts:

* Recycling one glass container saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.

* Recycling of each ton of paper saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water.

* We use enough plastic wrap to wrap all of Texas every year.

(According to the Environmental Protection Agency)

To Alan Rathe, Earth Day does not come just once a year.

“You conserve everything you can and that’s not just Earth Day that’s every day,” said Eastern’s recycling coordinator.

Earth Day has been celebrated on April 22 since 1970, when Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson started the first Earth Day with a protest against the government’s environmental ignorance.

Eastern’s recycling program was started in 1992 and 13 years later, Eastern cut its waste reduction and recycling cost avoidance to $140,000.

Rathe said the best thing to do to help the environment is having zero waste.

He said people should try to reuse and recycle everything, including packaging.

“You got to know it’s reduce, reuse, then recycle,” he said.

Thoughout time Eastern’s campus has gotten bigger, which means more buildings, more people and more trash, Rathe said.

But that hasn’t necessarily stopped Eastern.

Eastern leads in becoming more environmentally friendly above all Illinois universities.

They have received several awards for their work.

In 2006, Eastern was awarded one of the 10 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s College/University Partner of the Year for their comprehensive waste reduction program.

Since 2001, energy consumption on campus has been cut by 32 percent, carbon emissions by 28 percent and water consumption by 50 percent.

This was possible even while the student population grew by 20 percent, the Human Services Building was constructed, Blair Hall was rebuilt and Tarble Arts Center built an addition.

Rathe said when Eastern dumpster dives through the trash to see what percentage of the trash is recyclable, 50 percent of the trash could be recycled.

He said the percentage of trash that Eastern is supposed to recycle is more than 40 percent. However, Rathe said 33-45 percent of Eastern’s trash gets recycled.

“That one bottle, that one piece of paper does make a difference,” Rathe said.

Rathe said as long as the bottle is No. 1 plastic it can be recycled on Eastern’s campus.

Scott Meiners, an associate professor in the biology department, said while the water and air quality of the Earth has gotten better, there is more pressure on the land to support people.

“The dangers today are just as great as in ’70s,” Meiners said, adding that there are just different dangers.

He said Earth Day provides an opportunity to people to remind them that “we need to take care of our Earth.”

Meiners said a lot of it is being aware of what people are doing to the environment and the influence of people’s actions on the environment.

Barbara Carlsward, an assistant professor in the department of biological sciences, said Earth Day represents a reality check.

“Something that makes us all think about conservation,” she said. “I think the Earth is in serious doo doo and just keeps getting worse.”

She said a lot could be done if everyone starts taking conservation seriously.

“A good first step is empowering ourselves with knowledge about what’s going in our environment and then trying to do something about it,” Carlsward said.

She said it could be as simple as reusing and recycling as much as possible.

Emily Zulz can be reached at 581-7942 or at eazulz@eiu.edu.

Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, called for an environmental teach-in, or Earth Day, to be held on April 22 originally in 1970. (Photo Illustration by Bryce Peake

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