Students of Dr. Alison McCartney's POSC 107: Intro to Intl Relations class propose the following ON CAMPUS solutions to help Towson University contribute to positive steps to address environmental issues, including global climate change:

 

1. We need to increase the number and type of recyclying bins around the University.  Accessibility is sorely lacking, and bins are often not prominently labelled, stuck in obscure corners, etc.  Plus, it is often hard to find a bin for your product (paper, cans, plastic).

2. We need to ensure that items placed in the bins are *actually receycled.*  Many students have witnessed workers putting recyclables in with regular trash in several campus buildings.  They often dump it all together.  To ensure that this does not happen, we propose a three-point strategy of educating workers and students of the benefits of recycling; establishing firm rules that trash and recyclables NOT be mixed; and stringent enforcement procedures (including awards for those who pick up the most recyclabled products).

3.  Increased recycled content of products (drink cups!) that are used to serve food in the Union and other campus eateries.  We need to use our own recyclables!

 

 

4. Increased options to cut our carbon footprints while at TU by 1) increasing on-campus housing so we don't have to engage in the daily scramble to drive and find parking or bother nearby family neighborhoods by moving there because we have no other options). If we keep getting kicked off of campus, we keep being put in this avoidable situation.  2) Better local transit to known off-campus areas where students live so that, again, we don't have the drive/park scramble.  This transit will also decrease the spread of students in the community and keep us nearer to campus where we want to be anyway. 

 

5. Incorporate green building technology in ALL future building plans to lower energy usage and costs and decrease run-off.

 

 

On a state of Maryland level, we propose:

                     1. Tax incentives for businesses to recycle and use recycled products

                               2. Investment in technology to make recycling more viable and usable (ex: eliminate grey paper).