While the ideal of reducing recyclable material being thrown into the trash is a noble pursuit, the removal of our (the residents of north tower) ability to dispose of garbage through the garbage chute is an excessive inconvenience. Not only does it make disposing of garbage a much larger inconvenience than it should be, it also can reduce the cleanliness/hygiene of our common living areas and the elevator. Below are the main reasons that the usage of garbage chutes should be re-implemented: -It greatly increases the usage of the elevator, assuming that every unit has about 1 bag of garbage per day, that would mean roughly 14 x 4 x 2 (the 2 accounts for going up and down) units worth of elevator rides per day. The electricity used, as well as the mechanical wear on the already unreliable elevators is highly unnecessary. Not to mention that the elevators are already used quite often; this slows down the usage of the elevators. -With that much garbage going through the elevator on a daily basis, garbage is liable to be strewn all over the elevators, as well as common walking areas on the floors and in the basement. This is not only extra cleaning that is required, but is also a possible health hazard. It is highly common for garbage to leak from excessively full garbage bags. -The inconvenience of needing to dispose of garbage through the elevator is frankly, highly annoying. Most of the residents did not expect the garbage chutes to be restricted before signing up for residence. For apartment style buildings, it is pretty much a necessity that there is a working garbage chute. -It increases the reluctance of throwing the garbage out, leading to slightly dirtier and messier residences for most people (garbage piles up within the unit). -It is not even a certainty that the amount of material recycled will increase, many people will not toss out the recycling at the same time as throwing out the garbage (especially when there is a lot of garbage). If anything, it might increase the urge to shove the recycling and garbage all into one large bag and dispose of that in the garbage. Suggested solutions to reducing recycling thrown into the garbage chute -Provide larger recycling bins, this will allow us to make more trips. Currently, many units only have a recycling bin the size of a small garbage bin. Providing a larger recycling bin will allow for less frequent trips, and reduce the incentive to toss recyclable materials into the garbage. -Suggest to residents of Gage towers that they should do their recycling and laundry at the same time. Laundry requires exactly 3 round trips to the basement, the first to place the laundry in the washing machine, the second to transfer the clothes into the dryer, and the third to pickup the clothes. Therefore, the resident won't be carrying anything on the second trip to the laundry machines. This is the perfect opportunity to empty his or her recycling bin. -Promote awareness of recycling by having all the recycling picked up and having the deposits put into a fund for free food/drinks/swag for the tower with the most recycling. In conclusion, there are many ways to promote the proper recycling of materials without restricting the convenience and near-necessity of North Tower's garbage chutes.

Links