Last week, the Frederiksen Court Community Council opted to stop the cycle of petitions and disagreements surrounding the recycling plan that had been implemented —ÿand once removed — from the cluster of buildings. This decision was based upon the feedback of Frederiksen Court residents and research conducted by council members.

While trashing the recycling program does mean that students living in those buildings won’t have such close and convenient access to certain recycling facilities, the decision is obviously one that was carefully thought out —ÿand based on research that should have been conducted before the recycling plan went into effect in the first place.

Worthy of most applause in this decision was the effort put forth by the Community Council to notify its constituents of the change: a page-long memo was distributed to all apartments in Frederiksen Court detailing the research behind the decision, as well as the benefits and disadvantages to each side of the debate. In a nutshell, the costs and energy put into the program was beneficial, but not necessarily beneficial to Frederiksen Court residents or worthwhile in the long run.

The council lists a number of factors it considered; each of them is sound. Key among them are the Resource Recovery plant, which recycles newspaper, plastics, metal, glass and other items. The location of the Dumpster used for recycling was also tucked in a north parking lot of Frederiksen Court. This was neither in a central location nor an option for a permanent Dumpster — a fenced concrete pad would have to be built in another area of Frederiksen Court. Further research also revealed that, while Frederiksen Court residents were paying money to fund the program, many who did not live in the area were using the Dumpster.

Essentially, if reduced to a matter of numbers, it becomes even more evident that tossing the recycling program is a smart decision. The annual cost of the program was $2,580. Throw in the pad and fence that would be required for a permanent fixture, and the total bounces to roughly $4,580.

That’s thousands of dollars going toward an effort that’s already being met exceptionally well in Story County.

Theoretically, any effort to make recycling more convenient is worthwhile. Protecting the environment is important. The recycling program established at Frederiksen Court was not a wasted effort. It was, however, a redundant one.

Throwing the program in the rubbish wasn’t the ideal decision, at least on paper. But examining the factors the Frederiksen Court Community Council weighed makes it clear that it was the best option.

Editorial Board:Cavan Reagan, Amber Billings, Rachel Faber Machacha, Charlie Weaver, Zach Calef, Ayrel Clark.