By BEN PULIAFITO
Assistant life editor
“Reduce, reuse, recycle” seem to be words used commonly throughout the Poly community. With blue recycling bins found all around campus and inside nearly every classroom, students have started to take a more active role in environmental protection and campus cleanliness. Much of this success in getting students to recycle can be attributed to M.E.S.A., the Men’s Ecology and Service Association, a club dedicated to recycling and community service on the Polytechnic campus.
Founded in 2006 by Billy Wardlaw, ’08, and A.J. Talt, ’08, M.E.S.A was originally a combination of a men’s organization and the existing Ecology Club. However, the club turned out to be a lot more than just a group of boys passionate about cleanliness. Now in its third year, M.E.S.A., which is led this year by teachers Rebecca Beucher and Elliot Goodman, provides for organized recycling of aluminum cans and plastic bottles, while at the same time allowing students to participate in community service and raise money for charity. The club meets every Friday after school to separate out the different recyclables from the blue bins for the recycling company. Last year, it was estimated that Poly members placed 80% of recyclables in the blue bins. Some say that M.E.S.A has fallen victim to its own success; as more and more people recycle, more students are needed to help deal with the increasing number of bottles in the blue bins. But Poly students have met the personal challenges. With the incentive of earning up to an hour of community service every Friday and some ice-cream sandwiches, more students than ever before have started taking an active part in campus recycling.
“It’s a twofer and that’s what I like about it,” says Roger Ipswitch, former faculty adviser for the club. While M.E.S.A not only makes the campus a “recycling-friendly” setting, it also makes money for charities and foundations. In the first two years of its existence, the club made about $2400 from recycling, and generously donated its profits toward charitable efforts including the education of two children through the Nomad Foundation, donating 15 mosquito nets for malaria prevention through Nothing but Nets, the Cochlear Implant School in Beijing and sponsoring the Lower School planting event to promote environmental protection on the Poly campus.
M.E.S.A. does not see any major changes taking place in the near future, but its members’ outlook on the future is positive. Under direction of the club’s student run “Board of Directors” as well as with assistance by Beucher and Goodman, M.E.S.A. is hoping to continue its success. This year it expects around twenty to twenty-five people helping out every Friday afternoon. Board member Claire Lis comments, “We’re really excited for this year, and we’re especially happy to see that freshmen are taking interest too.” Although M.E.S.A. is no longer looking into paper recycling due to various organizational obstacles, the administration and the ASB, led mainly by the ASB Community Outreach Representatives Emily Poole and Charlie Baxter, have started to take interest in a sustainable paper recycling program. In any case, the future of Poly is looking environmentally friendly and clean; at least, that is if people clean up after lunch.
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