BY JOHN PAUL SCHMIDT Joseph Vernon has been making a splash at Montana State UniversityNorthern with his work as the sustainability coordinator of the university’s student senate. As the sustainability coordinator, part of Vernon’s duties is to work with the community’s local recycling initiatives and represent the university. Keeping up with this duty, Vernon attends all Recycle Hi-Line’s meetings. At Recycle Hi-Line’s meeting Feb. 19, Vernon reported he and his team kept 2,500 pounds of cardboard, 5,420 pounds of paper, 100 pounds of aluminum, 180 pounds of #1 and #2 plastics and 95 pounds of #5 plastics from going into the tri-county landfill. Vernon, originally from North Carolina, moved to Havre from Portland, Ore., where he lived from 2010 to 2013. But from 2003 to 2007, he was a United States Marine working as a motor transport mechanic stationed in Cherry Point, N.C., and was sent on two tours to Iraq. He began his college education at Portland Community College after retiring from the military, then transferred to Montana State University-Northern in 2013 to pursue a double major in diesel technology with equipment management and field maintenance options. Vernon said it might seem odd at
first that a “diesel guy” would be the head of the recycling effort at MSU-N, but it is not really odd at all. “With today’s emission technology, it kind of makes sense,” Vernon said. He said becoming the sustainability coordinator of MSU-N’s Student Senate was not his idea. He was approached by the president Annie Kling and vice president Ronnie Kling to take the position. “It was pretty much because I’m from Portland,” Vernon said, and laughed. As the sustainability coordinator, Vernon has made his mark at MSU-N and has revitalized the university’s recycling program. Vernon has been getting some recognition for the work he does for the university. He said people have been recognizing him at the monthly recycle drives in town as the “university recycling guy.” “Another awesome thing is to see the impact you have on the community,” Vernon said. He and his team of two other MSUN students go out once a week for a few hours to pick up the recycling from
all the bins across the campus. Friday mornings are one of the few times all the team is free from school or other obligations. Recycling bins are stationed in every building on campus except for Pershing Vernon Hall, Vernon said. Last semester, he ordered more bins for the campus. Though most of the buildings have bins, he said, they are not as accessible as he would like because there are just too few. The biggest problem with the fairly simple idea of placing recycling bins in campus buildings is the amount of legal work Vernon has to go through with the university administration before he can place his bins. The bins must be located in very specific areas to avoid any violations, such as a fire safety violation. Vernon’s current project is his biggest to-date. Student Senate voted to allow him to conduct a one-year pilot program for recycling #5 plastics. Because Montana has no place to recycle #5 plastics, Vernon said, he plans to ship the plastic to a New York-based company called Preserve Gimme 5 who will recycle it for the university. Companies like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Markets accept #5 plastics and send them off in a similar fashion. In fact, they use the same company as Vernon plans to use. Plastics like yogurt containers and ketchup, syrup and medicine bottles are generally #5 plastics. These types of plastics can be recycled into brooms, bins, pallets, signal lights, ice scrapers, bicycle racks and other items. The sure-fire way to tell what kind Photo courtesy of Jim Potter Joseph Vernon, front, and his crew, Jedrick Schatz, left, and Eric Neal collect recycling at MSU-Northern each Friday morning and have amassed an impressive amount since the beginning of the school year.
continued on page 25 24 LIVING MAGAZINE April 2014
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