By combining funds awarded from two separate grants, Barton Community College has been able to place recycling containers throughout student housing as well as at two four-bin trailers to hold material. 

Barton Central Kansas Upward Bound Director Patrick Busch spearheaded the project as a way to foster good recycling habits for students. 

“We partnered with Sunflower Diversified Services Inc. and the Barton County Commissioners Office to apply for a Solid Waste Grant through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and were awarded $16,500,” he said. “The trailers are placed outside of Bluestem and Cottonwood Halls. They accept plastic bottles, aluminum, cardboard and corrugated cardboard.” 

Busch said the containers were made possible through a $7,000 grant from the Can’d Aid Organization.  

“We were able to purchase 300 of these recycling containers,” he said. “We put one in each of the dorm rooms and we were also able to purchase four outdoor recycling bins for the students to put their material.” 

Busch said the students are taking advantage of the recycling and that they routinely fill the trailers. 

“We’d like to thank everyone involved,” he said. “It was a group effort and we really want to thank Shawn Bates at Sunflower Diversified, the Barton County Commissioners Office and Barton’s facility department for helping us with the project.”

For more information, contact Busch at buschp@bartonccc.edu or 620-786-1182.