Theology – Â鶹ÊÓƵ Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:37:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cropped-favicon_logo-32x32.jpg Theology – Â鶹ÊÓƵ 32 32 Developing PR for Organics and Recycling /projects/developing-pr-for-organics-and-recycling-3/ /projects/developing-pr-for-organics-and-recycling-3/#respond Wed, 01 Nov 2023 03:37:21 +0000 https://portal.epicn.org/case-stories/developing-pr-for-organics-and-recycling/ Read More... from Developing PR for Organics and Recycling

]]> The City of Elk River has long been a leader in recycling participation and organics recycling involvement. In fact, the city was one of the first to implement single stream recycling and household organics collection in the state of Minnesota. Elk River organizes recycling collection for single family homes, splitting these residents between two haulers; the haulers deliver recyclables to different facilities, sometimes causing confusion between residents as to how their recycling process works. Also, the recycling industry changes frequently and rapidly, and city staff struggle to create a simple to understand process for homeowners. Also, organics recycling is voluntary for homeowners, and staff would like to see participation increase. Furthermore, landlords of apartment complexes and businesses organize their own recycling and compost collection systems, which do not follow a standard set of guidelines. Across these different constituencies, Elk River would like to improve city residents’ understanding of and participation in both recycling and organics collection.

]]> Many communities around the country and world have recognized the harmful effects that polystyrene take-out containers have on the environment and have instituted bans on their use. Elk River is home to one of the state’s largest municipal solid waste landfills. The landfill’s staff and surrounding community often deal with litter from the landfill and a large portion of this litter is polystyrene containers. These products use valuable space in the landfill and take thousands of years to decompose. They contaminate our waters, harm our wildlife, and cause deterioration in our community’s aesthetics. Therefore, the City would like to investigate the costs and benefits of different options for discouraging the use of polystyrene take-out containers, including a ban or tax, or incentives for encouraging the use of alternatives.

Students in Christian Faith and the Management Professions will engage in research about the effects of the use of polystyrene containers on the common good, taking into account various stakeholders such as businesses that are harmed by their use, businesses that benefit from their use, residents of different economic backgrounds, future generations, and the earth. They will examine ways in which governments and citizens (both individual and corporate) in other communities have worked to promote the common good by decreasing the use of polystyrene containers.

Project Overview Poster
City Outcomes
The Environmental Division will be meeting with county staff to discuss a county-wide ban of polystyrene, reducing the amount of litter in our community. This ban is now in place in Minneapolis and St. Louis Park. The City is interested in being the first county or outer-ring suburb to put a ban in place.

]]> Many communities around the country and world have recognized the harmful effects that plastic shopping bags have on the environment and have instituted bans or taxes on their use. Elk River is home to one of the state’s largest municipal solid waste landfills. The landfill staff and community often deal with plastic shopping bag litter from the landfill, and plastic shopping bags also become stuck in the City’s waste to energy plant machinery. Plastic shopping bag litter contaminates our waters, harms wildlife, and causes deterioration of the community’s aesthetics. Therefore, the City would like to investigate the costs and benefits of different options for discouraging the use of plastic bags, including a ban or tax, or incentives for encouraging the use of alternatives. Students will engage in research about the effects of the use of plastic bags on the common good, taking into account various stakeholders such as businesses that are harmed by their use, businesses that benefit from their use, residents of different economic backgrounds, future generations, and the earth. They will examine ways in which governments and citizens (both individual and corporate) in other communities have worked to promote the common good by decreasing the use of plastic bags.

Project Overview Poster
From the SCP Blog: Decreasing the Use of Plastic Shopping Bags
City Outcomes
The Environmental Division will meet with county staff to discuss a county-wide ban or incentive program for decreasing the use of plastic shopping bags, based on students’ research about the costs and benefits of plastic shopping bags for various stakeholders in the community.

Read the final student report delivered to the local gov/community partner.

Sustainable Communities Partnership Contact Info

University Faculty Contact
Angela Senarder
Theology

Local Government / Community Contact
Kristin Mroz

Enviornmental Technician

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