I am skeptical about the article, “Groups promote campus recycling” (Nov. 29, p. 1) which is an attempt to convince GW students and faculty that the University does actually recycle. Every morning for two years, I watched the GW housekeeping staff mix trash and recyclables into the same bags. Whenever I asked about this, I was told they separate the trash later. Therefore, the effort to provide more recycling bins is wasteful and deceitful.

If the University does separate trash from recyclables, then it is a waste of money to buy bins and a waste of time for students and employees to separate their garbage. The deceit comes in by the very existence of the bins. If we are to believe the University staff in saying that they separate it, then the bins are unnecessary. If they do not separate, then they are certainly unnecessary. The bins exist to give the appearance that the University is recycling, when in fact, no one knows whether that is so. And so, unfortunately, my skepticism remains.

-Lynly Schroeder
class of 2001