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Clockwise from bottom: Second-year physiological sciences student Katrina Woo, resident assistant

As two students make their way down the hall, the clanging of the glass bottles and soda cans alerts residents that the students are making their weekly collection of recyclable goods.

By the time they get to the next door, the residents already have their door open with their recycling in hand and ready for pick-up.

Second-year physiological sciences student Katrina Woo and second-year applied mathematics student Steve Kim are two Canyon Point residents who have developed their own recycling program on their floor and have been adamant about implementing it.

Peter Lu, a third-year electrical engineering student and a Canyon Point resident assistant, said his residents were concerned that UCLA Housing Administration would not recycle the items students left in the recycling bins. So they took it upon themselves to form their own recycling program.

Since Housing would not allow them to place their own container anywhere in the lounge or near the stairs of their house, Lu emptied out one of his closets so that the recycling his residents collect would have a place to be stored until it can be dropped off at the nearest recycling facility, Lu said.

At first, it would take about a month before the closet was filled with recycling. Now, it takes about a week and a half to two weeks, Lu said.

About every other weekend, Lu, Woo and Kim fill a car with approximately 70 to 80 pounds of recycling and drive about 20 minutes to the closest Vons, which is located in Santa Monica.

In the parking lot there is a small recycling facility where the three students sort their recyclables, have them weighed and then receive payment for the items. One trip to Vons, including the commute and the time sorting, takes about three hours every other weekend, Woo said.

The first time they went to drop off the recycling, it took nearly three hours to separate it all. Now that they understand how the process works, they are much more efficient, Lu said.

Alfred Nam, associate director of rooms for Housing, said it is not Housing’s responsibility to remove the recycling. Rather, Nam said it is each individual floor’s responsibility to collect recycling and then dispose of it.

“They are supposed to be taking them down every week and using that money for individual student governments,” Nam said.

Nam said when recycling piles up in bins with non-recyclables, the bins’ entire contents have to be thrown away.

“Some floors are really into recycling and they manage it well,” Nam said.

He said he thought 25 percent of on-campus housing residents recycle, though said a lack of recycling facilities is not the problem.

“What is lacking is the effort to have a recycling program,” Nam said.

He said Housing is looking to work with the Office of Residential Life and the Sustainability Committee to further promote recycling on the Hill, starting by increasing awareness and education.

Woo said it took a couple of weeks to inform residents about their recycling program, but “now there’s just three or four rooms that don’t participate.”

Every time they go to recycle, they make about $35. Last quarter, the money was used for a house dinner around finals week, Lu said.

Lu said it is nice to have the extra money for programming, especially with all the budget cuts, but being more environmentally conscious is more important. He said he has heard of other floors trying to recycle, but said it usually does not last very long or is not on the same scale.

He also said encouragement from neighbors can be the best way to get residents interested in recycling.

Even though UCLA Housing Services and University Apartments provide recycling facilities for residents, some students find that the recycling bins located on campus are not big enough.

Regis Mesko, the facilities manager of the University Apartments North, said Weyburn Terrace residents are “very enthusiastic” about recycling.

But John Everett, a first-year law student, said a few small bins located throughout Weyburn Terrace are not meeting the recycling needs of residents.

Everett said he has raised the issue to a student supervisor but not much has been done.

Mesko said the current recycling bins do not seem to be large enough and that University Apartments is working with Consolidated Waste Management to provide more recycling facilities for residents.

The level of student participation in recycling has increased since Weyburn Terrace first opened which explains why recycling containers are filled much faster and why University Apartments is seeking to expand its recycling program, Mesko said.

Though there are recycling containers located by the mailbox areas throughout Weyburn Terrace, University Apartments is planning on providing more facilities by the end of the quarter, Mesko said.

Mesko met with UCLA Facilities Management Tuesday to finalize plans on expanding their recycling program.

University Apartments is advocating recycling by distributing information about which items can be recycled from Consolidated Waste Management, and hopes to publish the information in the residential newsletter as well.

But Everett said he has not seen or heard of any notification telling residents which items can and cannot be recycled, adding that if recycling facilities were convenient for residents, more students would probably recycle.

Mesko said now that all the residents have been able to move into Weyburn Terrace, University Apartments is able to analyze current recycling programs and determine what changes need to be made.

Providing more recycling bins throughout Weyburn Terrace will come at no additional expense since it is already incorporated into their partnership with Consolidated Waste Management.

“It’s amazing, the level of interest students have in recycling,” Mesko said. “We want to do a better job with it.”