Eastern’s recycling program has increased dramatically over the past few years, and the weight of recycled substances has doubled in the last year.

With the construction of the Renewable Energy Center and the demolition of the old steam plant, the Office of Energy and Sustainability was able to increase the amount Eastern recycles.

Ryan Siegel, the campus energy and sustainability coordinator, said Eastern has been pushing to recycle as much material as possible.

Siegel said the physical weights of recycling have increased, with Fiscal Year 2012 weighing in at more than 3 million pounds.

In FY 2011, Eastern recycled nearly 1.5 million pounds.

Siegel attributes this doubling of recycled items to the recycling from the Renewable Energy Center and the deconstruction of the old steam plant.

The Office of Energy and Sustainability is looking to improve the marketing of the recycling program with a new brochure.

Siegel said a brochure about recycling had not been produced in more than five years.

“With all the faculty and staff turn over, there was a concern that the long-standing base of the recycling program was not informed of the recycling availability on campus,” he said.

Siegel said the office had a brochure produced by the University Marketing and Communications Department that was printed on recycled paper.

The brochure discusses different items that can be recycled such as paper, cardboard, plastics, aluminum, batteries and electronics.

“We eagerly await to see what impact this may have had,” he said.

He also said office is planning collaboration opportunities with the National Residence Hall Honorary, which oversees the recycling program within the residence halls.

Mark Hudson, the director of University Housing and Dining Services, said efforts are being made to increase recycling in the residence halls along with Eastern’s overall recycling program.

“We work to keep recycling in people’s minds so they know it’s a good habit to get into,” he said.

Hudson said several lobbies of residence halls now have nicer recycling receptacles compared to the standard big blue bins.

“We’ve tried to find ways to incorporate the same outcome with a nicer look,” he said.

Recycling containers have been added in every room of Lincoln and Douglas halls to encourage recycling, and Hudson said he is looking forward to the outcome of that effort.

“NRHH has done a great job of doing things like putting ‘Conserve Energy’ stickers on all the light switches in the residence halls too,” he said.

NRHH sponsors an ongoing contest to see what hall can recycle the most materials each year and has new efforts that will be visible in the residence halls soon.

Meghan Garby, the sustainability coordinator of NRHH, said they are working on a program that would award $100 to the hall that recycles the most each month.

“We’re also hoping to have a banner that will be displayed in the winning hall each month, and it will travel around,” she said. “We’re trying to get more publicity out about recycling so people know about this effort.”

Jacob Deters, the communication coordinator for NRHH, said NRHH is looking to partner more with the office in sustainability efforts.

“We’re getting the foundations ready for integrating more with Eastern’s green efforts and looking forward to seeing how it all comes together,” he said.

Robyn Dexter can be reached at 581-2812 or redexter@eiu.edu.