Daring students can gear up and get down and dirty Saturday at a dumpster dive sponsored by the Student Government.

Participants will don protective gloves before sifting through trash receptacles located outside Thomas Hall, inside the Thomas dining center and near the Booth Library in order to help raise awareness about the material that people discard.

Volunteers will meet outside of Thomas Hall at 12:45 p.m.

These locations were chosen so as to represent a cross-section of the campus people use throughout a typical day.

Ryan Siegel, campus energy and sustainability coordinator, organized the event and approached members of the Student Senate University Development and Recycling committee to help conduct the day’s activities.

“I think students will be surprised at what all is found,” Siegel said.

Squeamish students need not be deterred by the event’s title, as no one will actually be entering any dumpsters.

Instead, volunteers are needed for the event to sort the various materials into their categories, including office paper, newspaper, No. 1 and No. 2 plastics, aluminum cans, clear glass, and food waste.

The data gathered at the dumpster dive will be included as part of a report required to be filed with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which has provided the university with grants toward enhancing energy projects in the past.

The results of the dive will be posted and delivered to the various representative groups on campus.

“Previous dives that have occurred have shown that over 50 percent of the material in the dumpster would have been recyclable,” Siegel said.

In a prior dive, participants recovered a box of nearly-full toilet paper rolls discarded by a BSW who had restocked a building’s bathrooms, regardless of whether they needed to or not, which no longer occurs on campus, Siegel said.

The majority of recyclables incorrectly disposed of in trashcans, include paper products and No. 1 plastics.

Siegel maintains that environmental awareness has increased at Eastern, as exemplified with the university’s recent recognition with the 2009 Outstanding College and University Recycling Program award by the Illinois Recycling Association.

“I feel that students want to recycle. I have not seen anyone who is intentionally wasteful,” he said. “However, in our society, we have made trash to be more convenient than recycling.”

To counteract this mentality, Siegel hopes to increase the consistency and availability of recycling containers across campus this term.

Erica Whelan can be reached at 581-7942 or elwhelan@eiu.edu