News

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO) Natural Resource Instructor Chase Fairweather will be taking a few more laps around campus as he begins to implement a paper recycling program. With a donation of $700 from the NEO President’s Partners, Fairweather notes that the program is intended to educate not only students, but also faculty and staff members about the importance of paper recycling.

“The Sierra Club already collects plastic bottles and cans on campus, but there wasn’t any paper recycling solution in place,” said Fairweather. “On a college campus, many instructors print out guided notes for their students, but if students don’t show up those notes may end up in the trash. I pinpointed overprinting in offices as one of the major areas of need, so that’s what this project is geared toward.”

Fairweather has placed half of the 64, 14-gallon recycling tubs in offices around campus. Fairweather and members of the Forestry Club will visit the offices and collect the paper as need dictates.

“Eventually, I hope to have a system that is self-supporting, but the main goal is to educate people on campus about how precious our resources are and how little value we sometimes place on them,” added Fairweather. “I’m so grateful to the President’s Partners for helping us jumpstart this process.”

For more information about the paper recycling initiative on campus, contact Fairweather at fairwej@neo.edu or to learn more about becoming an NEO President’s Partner, contact Jennifer Walker at Jennifer.hesse@neo.edu.