Cheers to the Environment!

Andrew Stanley, Overland Park senior, was clearing the table after a night with friends at the JazzHaus, 926 ½ Massachusetts St.  After dropping the bottles in an overflowing trashcan, he approached the bartender.

"Do you recycle?" he asked.

The answer was, as it is in the majority of bars in Lawrence, no.  In a survey of ten downtown Lawrence bars, only one recycles.

"I was shocked," Stanley later said. "Primarily what bars are generating are recyclable materials."

This semester, Stanley founded Students for Bar Recycling. With the battle cry of 'Cheers to the Environment!" this group hopes to get the word out about recycling to Lawrence bars and to encourage students to frequent the bars that recycle.

"We are the consumers and so we have the power to make this happen," Stanley said. 

Even if bars are dropping the ball, the city of Lawrence Solid Waste Report, updated 2008, states that the city has achieved an overall 35 percent recycling rate. According to the report, this rate is the highest in the state and higher than the EPA listed national average of 32 percent. It is also higher than most communities that have more expensive curbside recycling programs.

The Lawrence Public Works Department picks up cardboard, free of charge, from 300 area businesses. The city also picks up yard waste.  In 2007, city programs recycled more than 15,567 tons of waste. These programs do not include a comprehensive curbside recycling service.

"In the past, curbside recycling hasn't been economically feasible," Chuck Soules, city Public Works director, said. "Essentially, if we had a curbside recycling, the cost would be double."

            Prices have dropped even lower with the shaky market, according to Soules.

            "We are looking at a situation where we would actually be paying people to take it," Soules said.

            The expense of glass disposal has caused Kansas City-based recycling firm Deffenbaugh to stop their curbside service for glass. With the current market, revenues from glass are so low that they do not cover the cost of transportation.

Lawrence residents pay for the services that Public Works provides as a subset of their water bill. A March 2008 survey conduced by the ETC institute found that most Lawrence residents weren't willing to pay for the additional cost of a curbside recycling service, which would be about $11.24 per household per month according to a 2004 city estimate.

But among students, Stanley sees a desire for environmental action.

"I think it is something that most college KU students are concerned about--that they are supporting businesses that are concerned about the environment," he said. "I wanted to create an outlet for people to get together to make sure bars are implementing good practices."

One thing that the group will do is spread awareness about the five private curbside recycling services in town.

"We have outreach tools, but we can only do so much. Bars aren't our focus right now, we go into schools," said Kathy Richardson, Operations Supervisor at the city department of Waste Reduction and Recycling. "A student group could give out brochures to let them know what programs exist."

Many bar managers interviewed had no idea that there are curbside services in town that cost as little as $20 a month for weekly service.

"Information isn't really out there," said Mike Milne, general manager at It's Brothers, 1105 Massachusetts St.  "I am sure it is out there, but no info is provided on how to take advantage of it."

Chris Scafe, owner of Sunflower Curbside Recycling, agrees.

"Lawrence has a long way to go," he said. "Mainly in bars--there is a huge shortfall in glass recycling."

One bar that does recycle glass the Star Bar, which is attached to Pachamama's, 800 New Hampshire St. It's recycled glass since 2006.

"We spend money on it and pay extra to have Sunflower come and pick up our stuff," said operations manager Sam Sieber. "It is extra work for the cooks and the staff. We have to wash them all, and we go through a heck of a lot of wine bottles each night."

Sieber estimates that the staff sort four 50-gallon trashcans of glass alone each week.

"It becomes habit," Sieber said. "When you get used to it, it takes no more effort to throw that bottle in a different container."

At the first meeting of Students for Bar Awareness, the twenty students assembled spoke about the Lawrence bars that they had approached.

"They seemed really excited about the idea and wanted to look into it," said Lindsey Helmick, Lawrence senior.

Working with local bars constitutes only the first steps for the group, however. The group also hopes to influence government policy by getting student support for a statewide beverage container bill, better known as a "bottle bill." This means that every bottle sold has a deposit placed on it that is refunded when the bottle is recycled. The city's Solid Waste Report also recommends this process.

Stanley believes that Students for Bar Awareness is the first step to changes like that for Lawrence and recycling.

"I think that there are lots of problems in our society and if someone has a passion, it is just a matter of dedication and enthusiasm," he said.