Meet Meg Maschal! An environmental enthusiast and Vice President of the Environmental Club, Meg is saving the world one single stream recycling can at a time.
Favorites:
- Class at Bucknell: Tropical Marine Biology and also Principles of Marketing
- Freez Flavor: Not a classic Freez exactly but I love the peanut butter soft serve that they have occasionally.
- Thing about Bucknell: Intramural sports, specifically co-rec volleyball every winter
- Place on Campus: The observatory on a warm, non-cloudy night
Four Fun Facts:
- My family owns a fudge shop and a candy store
- I HATE the movie Ted
- I studied abroad in New Zealand
- I used to have temporal lobe epilepsy. But don’t anymore
1. How did you get involved with working for the environmental club?
Upon entering Bucknell freshman year, I was a member of the Environmental Res College. I was so involved that year with learning all about environmental issues and renewable energy and being sustainable. I joined the Enviro Club sophomore year because I was still interested in all of that stuff and didn’t have the outlet of the Res College anymore.
2. What is your role in the club?
I am the current Vice President, in which I tackle different sustainability initiatives throughout the year.
3. What are some initiatives that the environmental club has been taking?
World Water Week just passed where we raised awareness about the excess water use on campus. We sold our reusable water bottles in the LC Mall to discourage people from buying wasteful Dasani bottles. We want to encourage people to use the new filtered water stations.
Additionally, we are also trying to end the confusion regarding single stream recycling.
4. What do you believe we, as students, can do to reduce our environmental impact?
-Everyone should recycle, especially those living downtown.
-You can also do simple things like unplugging your electronics when you aren’t using them, or you can make sure you turn out your lights every time you leave your room. You can brush your teeth without having the water run the entire time. You can also try to only use one paper towel every time you go to the bathroom. Simple efforts make a difference!
5. Can you please explain single stream recycling to us?
Basically almost everything can go into the single stream recycling cans on campus. Except food! But don’t be discouraged if you have food left in your take-out container. You just have to dump the food into the trash and then recycle the container. Other things that you can recycle: the Starbucks paper cups, the coca-cola paper cups, utensils, paper products, and the usual stuff like plastic, aluminum, and glass bottles.
6. If you had a single stream recycling can, a rake, a bison, a water bottle, and a tree branch, how would you put them all together?
Well, I guess I would attach the rake to the bison that I had previously trained. Then using the tree branch as my walking stick we would hike across the country placing the collected recyclable items into the single stream can. I will reuse the same water bottle throughout this trip and upon the journey’s end; I will recycle the bottle into the can.