The semester has come to an end, now what will you do with all of those papers, projects, posters, and non-returnable books? Reduce, reuse, and recycle them! Many students don’t take an initiative to utilize their resources in order to recycle, but with the Shropshire initiative, recycling can be much more manageable. 

Titled the “A&T End of Semester Paper Trail,” students can utilize their resources by recycling what they no longer need. The “A&T Paper Trail” is an end of semester recycling project. It is geared toward influencing the student body to turn potential “trash,” including notebooks, binders, graded papers, notes, projects, essays, non-returnable books, posters, summaries, and all other paper goods into recyclable items. The project will begin April 29, 2009 and will end May 6, 2009. 

It was the idea of James Shropshire, a junior public relations major from Charlotte, North Carolina to launch this initiative. There will be various collection locations in order for students who do not live on campus to participate, but the initiative is open to everyone. For students who live on campus, the collection will be on May 6, 2009. Items will be collected from each dorm and should be in the lobby for accessible pick up. The times of collection for campus residents will be from 8 pm to 11 pm. In order to be placed in the prize drawing, your name must be visible on the bag of items you wish to recycle.

Beginning on April 29, 2009 and lasting until May 1, 2009, collections will be held in the café from 5 pm until 7 pm, and Friday from 4 pm until 7 pm. On Monday, May 4, collections will be made in the Union near the C-store from 1 pm until 4 pm, and in the café from 5 pm until 7 pm. Although the target of the initiative is paper, all other items such as empty bottles and cans are accepted. An important note of the initiative, please bring all items that were taken or borrowed from the cafeteria to the collections. 

Names of students who participate will be drawn for prizes. The prizes of this initiative include: Pizza Hut vouchers, Krispy Kream vouchers, book store gift cards, a pizza party, and more. 

“I am very excited and am looking forward to leading the student body to a ‘green’ campus by saving items that would otherwise be thrown away,” said Shropshire. “This is a student driven effort, therefore, I sincerely thank everyone in advance for all of the efforts put forth! If there is any additional information or questions that you may have, please feel free to contact me via Facebook or by email: [email protected].”

Shropshire would also like to thank those who sponsored the initiative: A&T Auxiliary Services, the A&T Book Store, and the Green Team. 

“I feel like this is a great initiative and a positive way to serve the environment by putting items taken for granted into good use,” said Janae Brown, sophomore electronic media major.

“I love initiatives and programs like this! It gives students the opportunity to not only participate in keeping the environment clean, but also to be involved with student oriented programs,” said Brittany Lee, junior business education/information technology major.

• Whitney Dickens