Sarah Schulte/The Ithacan SENIOR ANNA EHRLICH, an Ithaca College Environmental Society member, sorts recyclable items from the garbage collected in the Campus Center Quad Tuesday.

A mound of pizza boxes, Styrofoam, Gatorade bottles, old newspapers and other garbage was dumped in the Campus Center Quad Tuesday afternoon.

Volunteers with bright orange gloves sorted through the plastic trash bags and garbage bins that came from every residence hall on campus.

For Earth Day 2002, the Resource and Environmental Management Program collected the trash accumulated Monday in the residence halls and dumped the garbage into the quad to show the campus how little of it is actually recycled. The sorted trash was removed in the afternoon.

“This should be a wake-up call,” said sophomore Elizabeth Peterson, REMP student recycling educator. “The trash should show students how much waste they produce and how much could have been recycled.”

REMP includes a coalition of students, faculty, administrators and staff with a goal of promoting campus awareness of environmental concerns, resource management, recycling and conservation.

On Earth Day last year, the college announced its Comprehensive Environmental Plan to identify ways to play a significant role in environmental responsibility.

Mark Darling, Recycling and Resource Program coordinator and coordinator of the event, said volunteers sorted through approximately 1,662 pounds of material. Of the total amount of garbage accumulated in the residence halls, he said 46.5 percent could have been recycled.

Darling said volunteers found 25 pounds of reusable items, including shoes, cosmetics, a notebook and an unopened DVD.

Freshman Jessica Murray volunteered to sort through the garbage and said she was surprised at the things people threw away.

“It is so simple to put recyclable items into a container,” Murray said. “I think people are just lazy.”

Many students were unaware of the event occurring in the quad and why volunteers with orange gloves sorted through the numerous garbage bags and trash bins in front of the Fitness Center.

Sophomore Angela Jannetty, who observed the event from the Campus Center, said she had not known about the trash dump until she saw it taking place.

“If they want to get the message across, publicity is what they need,” she said.

Jannetty said she thought there should be more publicity about environmental campaigns planned for the remainder of the semester and next year.

Murray said she hoped that students walking by would realize they can play a part in recycling.

For Jannetty, the heap of garbage had that effect.

“This trash in the Campus Quad was a real eye-opener for me … a reality check,” she said. “Seeing all that garbage really makes you think about recycling more.”