Recycling
Paper, cardboard, glass, and aluminum (cans and bottles) are all recyclable. Recycling saves energy (though less than reducing) and creates jobs. Plastic and styrofoam can be down-cycled (used to make a product of lower quality that cannot be recycled). Styrofoam leaches a toxic chemical (styrene) intofood, and does not decompose. Styrofoam recycling is usually unsuccessful and is still toxic and wasteful. You should just ban it.

Is your school recycling everything it can? How well is it working? Have they done enough education? The actual amount of waste produced by the dorms will likely be small compared to academic buildings, but recycling in the dorms has the added educational value that it forms residents’ future habits. Propose expansions to the program and do education yourselves. Put up posters, get information on recycling and waste reduction included in the orientation packets new students receive, or do presentations in the dorms. You can set up a recycling program yourselves if you want, but the school should institutionalize it—it’s their responsibility.
Live simply, so that others might simply live.
Recycled Paper (Paper Procurement)
For recycling to work, there needs to be a market for the recycled material. Recycled paper is now comparable in price and quality to normal paper made from ‘virgin’ fibers—your school, your newspapers, your government and individuals should be buying it. (A large college uses millions of sheets of paper a week!) Prices are higher now because of the lack of distributors, longer shipping distances and government subsidies for virgin materials (est. $2.6 billion direct cost, which doesn’t include the effect of the resulting environmental destruction). But the more we buy, the more the price will come down.

The chlorine bleaching process produces dioxins, so get unbleached or “processed chlorine-free” paper if you can. So-called “elemental chlorine free” is a sham (it still uses toxic chlorine dioxide). Or reduce your school’s dependence on paper by getting them to use more email. Also get people to use two-sided copying and printing. White or off-white paper is better than brightly colored. Other recycled paper products, like toilet paper and paper towels, are also available. Make sure what you’re getting is really recycled.