Formed in the fall of 2004, the Recycling Task Force, or RTF, is a group of 4-5 students who are enthusiastic recyclers! We are in charge of improving Hamilton's recycling program under the wing of Physical Plant. We manage all recycling stations on campus, the distribution of blue bins in the dorm rooms, and special projects. Jennifer Piren, the Assistant Director of Custodial Services, head of recycling at Hamilton College, manages the task force, but it remains a student-led initiative. The Task Force acts a liaison between the student body and administration and works to improve recycling at Hamilton.
Allie Gurney '14
Allie is from West Hartford, CT, and is currently a mathematics major. Recycling has always been very important to me, as it is an important step in conserving energy and reducing environmental pollution, the importance of recycling is irrefutable. As a simple everyday task that requires mere seconds to accomplish, I often wonder why recycling exists as an arduous and often forgot about task, even at Hamilton. Through the Recycling Task Force, we all hope to educate the campus on recycling and help promote the importance and simplicity in the practice.
Alice Henry '14
Alice is from Chicago, IL, and is currently an environmental studies major (biology track). Growing up in a house with a biology teacher, she was raised to care about the environment and her impacts on it. In her house, she always recycled things in blue bags (the old recycling system in Chicago) and it never really occurred to her that other people didn't recycle. It's just so easy! However, it has become clear that habits are sometimes hard to pick up. As part of the RTF, she with my other RTF-ers strive to make recycling an active culture on campus that everyone can easily partake in.
Mandy Wong '15
Mandy is a sophomore from New York City. She is currently on the Pre-med track but still does not know what she wants to major in yet. Besides being involved in the Recycling Task Force Mandy is also involved in the Young People’s Project, Johnson Park Center for HAVOC, HCFSC, a tour guide for Admissions and a lab assistant for the Chemistry Department. Her biggest goal in RTF is to help Hamiltonians develop sustainable habits while having fun.
Savannah Alvarado '15
Becca Ross '14
Roxanne Makoff '12
Roxanne is from San Francisco, California and was a Public Policy major. Besides her studies and participation in the Recycling Task Force, Roxanne was a distance runner on the Women's Cross-Country and Track and Field teams. Along with protecting the environment, Roxanne's greatest passion is international human rights. Roxanne hopes that through the RTF she can educate the Hamilton campus on the importance and necessity of recycling. She spent the spring semester of 2011 in Washington D.C. interning at a human rights organization. Her greatest goal for the Recycling Task force is that by her graduation in 2012, Hamilton will have a fully functioning and sustainable compost system.
Nat Duncan '12
Nat is from Old Lyme, Connecticut, and majored in government with a history minor. Nat also sat on the Hamilton College Sustainability Committee and was a former co-president of Hamilton Environmental Action Group. He was an RA at Hamilton and has led an Adirondack Adventure pre-orientation trip. In his free time, he enjoys outdoor sports and skiing. Nat attended Hamilton's Washington D.C. program in Spring 2011 and interned at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Kate Harloe '12
Kate was a sophomore at Hamilton and a prospective Comparative Literature major from Canton, New York. She was a member of the Social Justice Initiative, the Figure Skating Club, and the Music Library Staff. Kate joined the RTF in the hopes of increasing environmental consciousness and education throughout the community. She worked to provide more integration between different student organizations on campus, especially ones with overlapping interests.
Jennifer Santoro '11
Jen was a senior Environmental Studies major and English minor from New Jersey. In addition to the RTF, she is a dorm sustainability coordinator and a committee leader of HEAG. She is also a geology lab TA and participates in the ballroom dancing club. Her biggest goal for the RTF is to see composting implemented at Hamilton before she graduates, but she also hopes to improve recycling awareness. Jen is passionate about conservation and sustainability, and is spending her senior year writing her thesis about a conservation plan for endangered butterflies in the Rome Sand Plains. In her free time, she enjoys kayaking and waterskiing.
Jennifer Kleindienst '09
Jen was a Public Policy major and Environmental Studies minor from Niskayuna, New York, and is currently the Sustainability Coordinator for Wesleyan University. Jen spent the summer of 2009 working at York Hospital in York, Maine as a Clean Air-Cool Planet Fellow. She served as the RTF coordinator from 2006 to 2009, though her interests in sustainability and recycling stretch further back. Jen worked her hardest to get composting started on campus, and has not given up on the fight though she has graduated. Jen went on a RTF-sponsored research trip to several northeastern colleges to learn more about composting and recycling best practices in Summer 2007. In her spare time, Jen enjoys playing board games, going for walks, and spending time with friends.
Gillian Smith '09
Gillian was a Chemical Physics major and Philosophy minor from Silver Spring, Maryland. At Hamilton, Gillian was a member of the Woollcott Cooperative, the Cross-Country team and the Wellin Hall Staff. Gillian really enjoyed working on Cram & Scram expansion for the spring semester and the introduction of Mini Cram and Scram for the Fall Semester.
Check out these helpful links!
Have more questions? Look here, or contact jpiren@hamilton.edu.
Want to help out with recycling initiatives in your own dorm? Check out our Sustainaibility Coordinators program for more information!
