Earth Day may be April 22, but it is celebrated throughout the year through recycling efforts on campus.

Stewart Burger, director of food service, said that less packaging is the trend in commercial food service.

“We’re seeing more concentration of product,” Burger said. “Where soaps and detergents, for example, used to come in bulk premixed, [they] now are coming in highly concentrated form and diluted on sight and put into refillable containers.”

Other examples are liquids such as pop and milk, which were once transported in large boxes and are now purchased in smaller plastic bags, reducing the volume of packaging to be disposed, Burger said.

Garbage from the kitchens of food service is separated into “wet” and “dry” garbage bins. Any “wet” garbage, such as food or drink, is disposed of in a garbage grinder. The “dry” bins of paper, plastic and metal materials are sent to the Resource Recovery Plant for sifting. A large magnet pulls metals from the waste, and the Recovery Plant then sells the metal to be recycled.

According to Clare Bills, public relations officer of the Resource Recovery Plant in Ames, the plant recovers more than 32,000 tons of metal per year.

Reusing wood pallets used for transporting products, recycling all fats and oils, and buying napkins made from recycled paper are a few more Earth-friendly actions taken by the Residence Halls Food Service.

“We try to be as environmentally conscious as possible by purchasing environmentally safe products, such as the napkins used in food service,” said Mary Ellen Metzger, manager of the Knapp-Storms Dining Center.

The recycling effort in the residence halls is assisted by Fresh Aire, a service that picks up materials and transports them by bicycle to be recycled, in Ames.

Fresh Aire collects from 47 houses in the residence halls, as well as from Kappa Delta, the Student Union Board at the Memorial Union, the public relations office at Ames Laboratory and from the lobby at the Veterinary Medical building.

Co-owner and founder of Fresh Aire, Jim Gregory, estimates the service has made 270 pick-ups this semester, collecting 13,500 pounds of recyclable material. He projects an additional 1,500 pounds by the end of this semester.

For a minimal charge for pick up and free use of bins, Fresh Aire will pick up cans, glass, newspaper, milk jugs, magazines, corrugated and paper board cardboard, #1 and #2 plastics, paper and plastic grocery sacks and Styrofoam peanuts.

“We do what we do for a lot of different reasons,” Gregory said, “for what we feel is the good of our community, for exercise and because we really enjoy it.”

The offices on campus do their part by collecting white paper for recycling in bins provided by Weyerhauser, a paper company in Des Moines that recycles the paper.