Associated Students Recycling (ASR)

Associated Students Recycling, a UCSB student-run organization! We play an active role in campus waste management and in teaching students about how they can reduce what they send to the landfill. Our campus currently has a 70% waste diversion rate and although this percentage is fairly high, our goal is to have a zero-waste campus. We’ve designed our site to be an informational resource about our services to the campus community and about recycling and composting regulations, best practices, and project ideas.

Mission

Our mission is to reduce waste at UCSB both through direct collection and through education and information sharing. We believe that true environmental progress requires direct, hands-on action and personal responsibility, not just ideals and slogans. We, along with our partner organization the Department of Public Worms, are deeply committed to the day-to-day recycling, compost, and electronic waste collection services that have helped make UCSB a state and national leader in waste reduction for nearly 20 years.

At the same time, we recognize that teaching students and staff how to recycle, compost, and reduce waste can have a huge impact both on and off campus, and is the only way to achieve lasting change. We value our campus and community, and are committed to a goal of zero waste at UCSB!

Foundation

Associated Students Recycling (ASR) began in 1993, when a small group of students were unhappy with the current campus recycling efforts (around 3% of all waste). These students were able to get an initiative added to the Associated Students Spring 1994 ballot that would charge every undergraduate student on campus a $0.75 fee per quarter to fund a recycling program. The initiative passed with 85% approval and provided about $34,000. The first students, two recycling coordinators and two recycling workers, worked with Mary Ann Hopkins, a Facilities Management staff member, to get the program underway, and the program was operated through Facilities. With insufficient funding for permanent bins, they first placed 22 temporary bins donated by the California Department of Integrated Waste Management. Since the foundation of ASR, the organization has developed into an integral part of UCSB’s waste management on campus.