Hey everybody,
I hope you have been well and are getting ready for some well-deserved time off for Thanksgiving. I’m writing to you in excitement about one of the CRC’s final events for the year. On Saturday, December 5th from 6-8pm, the CRC will be hosting a Holiday Coat Drive at the Lincoln Room of the Kellogg Center. We want you all to come for some FREE refreshments and live musical performances by various groups, possibly including MSU’s very own RCAHppella vocal ensemble, an MSU jazz ensemble, and a vocalist from Lansing’s Refugee Development Center! All we ask is that you bring a coat to donate to St. Vincent Catholic Charities, a local charity that works to enhance the quality of life for local individuals and families in need. All are welcome, from students, to East Lansing residents, to MSU faculty and administrators, to friends and family. Come help local people in need stay warm this holiday season while having some fun with your friends from the community, and enjoying a free concert.
Hope to see you there!
Go White!
Mike Berkowitz
CRC Intern
Monday, November 23, 2009
Recycling in East Lansing
Hey everyone,
It has been a while since I last wrote. I’ve been busy researching city recycling models for an independent study I’m performing in conjunction with the internship. I hope you don’t mind me getting a bit technical but I’m excited to tell you all about the conclusions I’ve drawn from the project and what it means for the city of East Lansing.
Basically, there are three different ways that a municipality can run a curbside recycling program. First, there is mixed waste recycling, where recycled materials and garbage are collected as one entity. This is beneficial because it requires no change in behavior of city residents, requires very little public education by municipalities, and lets the municipality choose which materials they wish to utilize from the collected waste. However, when garbage and recyclables are collected together, the recyclables often get contaminated, meaning they are unable to be reused. This happens when bottles break and intermix with paper products, or when recyclable materials have residues in them that diminish their quality. Contamination occurs at such a large level with mixed waste recycling that most municipalities will not use it.
The second model is called source separation. In this model, residents are required to clean, prepare, and sort their recyclables before the city picks them up, separate from their garbage. This is the model that East Lansing uses. This model is beneficial because material recovery facilities don’t have to spend a great deal of money sorting and cleaning recyclables before they sell them. The problem with this model is that it requires a great deal of public education, requires a great deal of effort from city residents, and can incur many collection costs.
The third model is called single-stream recycling. In this model, garbage and recyclables are separated, but all recyclables are collected together (called commingled recycling). This is beneficial because it is much easier for residents than source separating. It requires less public education and saves costs during the collection process. However, products are often contaminated, which makes the products less valuable and results in higher costs for sorting and cleaning.
After surveying a large portion of literature, most academics agree that source separating is the most cost effective recycling model for the time being. However, most of them also believe that as sorting and cleaning technologies become more advanced and their prices fall, single-stream models will be become the most cost effective recycling method.
So why does this all matter? Because this means that East Lansing is running the model that I, and the literature, believe it should be operating. However, in the future, East Lansing should look into the potential for a single-stream recycling model when technology becomes available. This would make recycling in the city much easier for students (requiring less time and effort to recycling), and it would not require the city to educate upwards of 7000 new student residents on recycling policies each year. In the future, this would be the ideal model for the city of East Lansing.
Thanks for sticking with me through my research. I’m happy to have studied the topic and to have gained such a strong understanding of recycling in East Lansing. I hope that if any of you are interested in recycling issues, or have questions, you will feel free to contact me. I’d love to talk about the issues even further.
Go Green!
Mike Berkowitz
CRC Intern
It has been a while since I last wrote. I’ve been busy researching city recycling models for an independent study I’m performing in conjunction with the internship. I hope you don’t mind me getting a bit technical but I’m excited to tell you all about the conclusions I’ve drawn from the project and what it means for the city of East Lansing.
Basically, there are three different ways that a municipality can run a curbside recycling program. First, there is mixed waste recycling, where recycled materials and garbage are collected as one entity. This is beneficial because it requires no change in behavior of city residents, requires very little public education by municipalities, and lets the municipality choose which materials they wish to utilize from the collected waste. However, when garbage and recyclables are collected together, the recyclables often get contaminated, meaning they are unable to be reused. This happens when bottles break and intermix with paper products, or when recyclable materials have residues in them that diminish their quality. Contamination occurs at such a large level with mixed waste recycling that most municipalities will not use it.
The second model is called source separation. In this model, residents are required to clean, prepare, and sort their recyclables before the city picks them up, separate from their garbage. This is the model that East Lansing uses. This model is beneficial because material recovery facilities don’t have to spend a great deal of money sorting and cleaning recyclables before they sell them. The problem with this model is that it requires a great deal of public education, requires a great deal of effort from city residents, and can incur many collection costs.
The third model is called single-stream recycling. In this model, garbage and recyclables are separated, but all recyclables are collected together (called commingled recycling). This is beneficial because it is much easier for residents than source separating. It requires less public education and saves costs during the collection process. However, products are often contaminated, which makes the products less valuable and results in higher costs for sorting and cleaning.
After surveying a large portion of literature, most academics agree that source separating is the most cost effective recycling model for the time being. However, most of them also believe that as sorting and cleaning technologies become more advanced and their prices fall, single-stream models will be become the most cost effective recycling method.
So why does this all matter? Because this means that East Lansing is running the model that I, and the literature, believe it should be operating. However, in the future, East Lansing should look into the potential for a single-stream recycling model when technology becomes available. This would make recycling in the city much easier for students (requiring less time and effort to recycling), and it would not require the city to educate upwards of 7000 new student residents on recycling policies each year. In the future, this would be the ideal model for the city of East Lansing.
Thanks for sticking with me through my research. I’m happy to have studied the topic and to have gained such a strong understanding of recycling in East Lansing. I hope that if any of you are interested in recycling issues, or have questions, you will feel free to contact me. I’d love to talk about the issues even further.
Go Green!
Mike Berkowitz
CRC Intern
Monday, November 16, 2009
Raking Leaves
Hello!
There is a saying that claims fall is just a second spring and every leaf is like a flower. Well, at the past CRC intern event, the flowers were in bountiful numbers in the form of leaves. A few of us decided it would be a wonderful idea to rake leaves for some elderly in the East Lansing area. We got some addresses and took our rakes on the road.
I have never seen so many leaves before in my life. At one house, all of us were knee deep in leaves. It was ridiculous! The weather luckily held up, so we did not have to deal with muddy and wet leaves. It was a great way to bond with fellow interns while doing something that was helpful. We even had a chance to play in the huge pile of leaves for a bit, which was great! The individuals we met at the houses were very thankful and that made our hard work and sore bones worthwhile. We are throwing around the idea of doing this type of activity with snow removal.
Other than this event, us CRC interns have been working hard on keeping up with our work and school. We will be holding a coat drive on December 5th at the Kellogg Center from 6-8 pm. The clothing will be given to the Refugee Development Center. It should be a great time, more details to come soon. Thanks for reading ☺
Peace be the journey,
Kanika
There is a saying that claims fall is just a second spring and every leaf is like a flower. Well, at the past CRC intern event, the flowers were in bountiful numbers in the form of leaves. A few of us decided it would be a wonderful idea to rake leaves for some elderly in the East Lansing area. We got some addresses and took our rakes on the road.
I have never seen so many leaves before in my life. At one house, all of us were knee deep in leaves. It was ridiculous! The weather luckily held up, so we did not have to deal with muddy and wet leaves. It was a great way to bond with fellow interns while doing something that was helpful. We even had a chance to play in the huge pile of leaves for a bit, which was great! The individuals we met at the houses were very thankful and that made our hard work and sore bones worthwhile. We are throwing around the idea of doing this type of activity with snow removal.
Other than this event, us CRC interns have been working hard on keeping up with our work and school. We will be holding a coat drive on December 5th at the Kellogg Center from 6-8 pm. The clothing will be given to the Refugee Development Center. It should be a great time, more details to come soon. Thanks for reading ☺
Peace be the journey,
Kanika
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Happy November!
Happy November everyone!
We are already half way done with the semester! I cannot believe how fast this semester has gone by (even though it goes by this fast every year). This past weekend was Halloween. Therefore, the city of East Lansing was graced by many interesting costumes such as H1N1 Swine Flu, a band of Care Bears, Lady Gaga, and a ‘Party in the USA’. Because it only happens once a year, we like to extend it as long as possible. On Wednesday, the CRC got the chance to participate in Safe Halloween with the rest of Greek life.
Safe Halloween is an event that allows children from the community Trick or Treat in a ‘safe’ environment. It was held during the hours of five to seven, so it was still light out. There were hundreds of children walking up and down MAC (which was shut down for the duration of the event). There were tables lining the street with different fraternities and sororities holding simple games to entertain the children while giving out candy. It was a wonderful event. There was music, laughter, pumpkins, and hay all over! The children were absolutely precious. My favorite costume would have to be a little boy dressed up as Michael Jackson. On the back of his leather coat, he had written: “You’ve been struck by a smooth criminal”. It was GREAT! The CRC table consisted of heaps of candy and three jars. We made the children guess how much candy was in each individual jar and if they guessed right, they got to take home the whole thing. It was pretty successful. Two jars had 100 pieces of candy and the other had 300. We got a few guesses from the younger kids of “five” or “ten” which always made me giggle. Overall, it was really fun and the weather was perfect! It was a great way to feel connected with the community while participating in an event that was mainly through Greek life.
After the event, a couple of the interns headed to Noodles and Company for some dinner. Not only is the food delicious, but we were supporting our very own Mike Berkowitz and Spartans Against Drunk Driving (SADD) in a fundraiser. It was wonderful to see the restaurant packed with people, especially because a lot of them were in costume. 20% of the purchase was donated to SADD. It was a completely successful day. We all were happy from all the cute children, full from a delightful dinner, and helping out SADD, a great organization.
We have a lot going on in the next couple of weeks. I cannot wait to keep you posted! Hope you have a great night!
Go White,
Kanika Suri
We are already half way done with the semester! I cannot believe how fast this semester has gone by (even though it goes by this fast every year). This past weekend was Halloween. Therefore, the city of East Lansing was graced by many interesting costumes such as H1N1 Swine Flu, a band of Care Bears, Lady Gaga, and a ‘Party in the USA’. Because it only happens once a year, we like to extend it as long as possible. On Wednesday, the CRC got the chance to participate in Safe Halloween with the rest of Greek life.
Safe Halloween is an event that allows children from the community Trick or Treat in a ‘safe’ environment. It was held during the hours of five to seven, so it was still light out. There were hundreds of children walking up and down MAC (which was shut down for the duration of the event). There were tables lining the street with different fraternities and sororities holding simple games to entertain the children while giving out candy. It was a wonderful event. There was music, laughter, pumpkins, and hay all over! The children were absolutely precious. My favorite costume would have to be a little boy dressed up as Michael Jackson. On the back of his leather coat, he had written: “You’ve been struck by a smooth criminal”. It was GREAT! The CRC table consisted of heaps of candy and three jars. We made the children guess how much candy was in each individual jar and if they guessed right, they got to take home the whole thing. It was pretty successful. Two jars had 100 pieces of candy and the other had 300. We got a few guesses from the younger kids of “five” or “ten” which always made me giggle. Overall, it was really fun and the weather was perfect! It was a great way to feel connected with the community while participating in an event that was mainly through Greek life.
After the event, a couple of the interns headed to Noodles and Company for some dinner. Not only is the food delicious, but we were supporting our very own Mike Berkowitz and Spartans Against Drunk Driving (SADD) in a fundraiser. It was wonderful to see the restaurant packed with people, especially because a lot of them were in costume. 20% of the purchase was donated to SADD. It was a completely successful day. We all were happy from all the cute children, full from a delightful dinner, and helping out SADD, a great organization.
We have a lot going on in the next couple of weeks. I cannot wait to keep you posted! Hope you have a great night!
Go White,
Kanika Suri
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