Most of the student body has never heard of the small
organization that runs under the name Students Against Paper Waste. Armed with
a new awareness plan, SAPW aims to change that.
Since its founding in early 2004, SAPW has fought the good
fight against wasteful paper practices around campus. They found themselves in
the middle of a controversy when they tried to have paper airplanes and note passing
banned, and to their surprise, failed. Their most successful event to date has
been SAPW’s annual signature drive in which students pledge to use paper
responsibly by signing a standardized form.
“I’m pretty aware that we’ve gone unnoticed over the last
few years,” says Taylor Platt, senior and president of SAPW, “but at the very
least, we’ve got all these papers FILLED with signatures from people that don’t
want to waste paper. Pages and pages, just sitting here”¦ proving that our cause
is a worthy one.”
One of SAPW’s main concerns has been to spread awareness of
its existence, evidently with disappointing results.
Amanda Metz, head of SAPW Public Relations, has plans to put
paper waste on the forefront of everyone’s minds. After being accosted by the
numerous organizations that hang around Trousdale, she found inspiration for a
new awareness campaign.
“After I was guilted into joining Green Peace with fliers of
crying orangutans fleeing their destroyed homes, I realized that SAPW has been missing
out on a real opportunity here,” says Metz. “Nothing says “join my environmental
cause’ like fliers.”
Since then, SAPW has stationed a few of its members out on
Trousdale every day to hand out fliers, “just like everyone else.” Sure enough,
they are already seeing results.
Leonard West, freshman and one of the appointed flier
distributors proudly explains, “ever since I’ve been handing these babies out,
my roommates, heck, everyone on my dorm floor can’t stop talking about how
obnoxious it is to waste paper. Success? I think so!”
Encouraged by the positive reaction to the fliers, SAPW has
plans to use more out-of-the-box tactics, including a giant paper banner,
gift-wrapping services to raise money for recycling, and complimentary origami
for monetary donors.
Overall, President Platt is feeling confident about the new
direction SAPW is headed. “Starting with these fliers, we can make sure
everyone gets the message about paper waste, loud and clear.”
