New policy not so green, says student group

Courtesy of Emily Ellis Members of Free the Planet rally outside of Bricker Hall Feb. 28 before holding a sit-in at President E Gordon Gee's office.

Ohio State announced its new recycling policy and its goal to become an environmentally friendly campus last week. Although many might applaud the effort, there are some who say the new policy is not enough.

Free the Planet, an environmental justice student group that originally worked in the Environmental Task Force with OSU administration, finds the policy incomplete. Free the Planet expected the school to create a policy that would not only begin using recycled paper products, but would also state OSU's stance against purchases from indigenous lands, endangered forests and off-limit caribou ranges, according to its press release.

The new policy, which requires copy paper to be 30 percent recycled, is missing many of these parts that were promised to Free the Planet, said Andrea Jaeger, a sophomore in geology and member of Free the Planet.

"The task force was created to get a common ground for our group and school to get together and make the policy," she said. "Unfortunately, we didn't get the equality that was meant to be there." As a result, Free the Planet opted out of the task force.

Jim Lynch, the director of media relations for the administration, said Free the Planet was part of all the discussions in developing the policy.

"It is unfortunate that they have chosen not to be involved anymore," Lynch said, adding that the group's requests were not ignored.

"Free the Planet has had a long list of demands of the administration," he said. "Unfortunately, members of Free the Planet want the university to adopt all issues without taking the time to study them. It would be irresponsible for the university to do such a thing."

Hudson McFann, a sophomore in geography and co-president of Students for a Sustainable Campus joined the task force late in policy development, but understands both sides.

"We certainly would have liked more," he said in regards to the policy. "But it was the best initial step. We want to issue our support, so we can build on it."

"We are supportive of this policy because we think it will lead to other environmental policies. We feel its the strongest policy that will come out of the task force at this point. It's a product of compromise," McFann said.

Free the Planet member Laura Anglim, a senior in Spanish, does not think the group's proposal demands too much.

"We'd be progressive," she said. "There's room to be flexible about the products and percentage of recycled material."

Free the Planet had been proposing a policy that takes effect in segments by setting a timetable for when certain products would become partly recycled, Jaeger said.

"We're not looking for everything to change at once," she said.

Free the Planet is strongly campaigning for a commitment from the university to stop purchases from indigenous lands.

Lynch said that OSU has been talking with OfficeMax, an OSU vendor, about where they get their paper from, and said some of their providers have stopped purchasing from indigenous lands.

If Free the Planet and the OSU administration agree on anything, it is that the policy is a great starting point.

"Senior leadership, starting with (OSU president E. Gordon) Gee has been very committed to this recycling policy," Lynch said. "It is a significant step for the university. We are proud of what we have accomplished."

Free the Planet knows this, but hopes for more.

"We think it's hollow, but it's a good starting point," Anglim said.

Everdeen Mason can be reached at mason.388@osu.edu.