By Taylor Buettner |ContributorAfter Augusta State University merged with Georgia's dental and medical colleges in 2012, recycling at Augusta University campuses did not seem to be a priority—that is, until recently.Up until May 2018, there had been only a nominal recycling program at the university, according to Leah Brown, a third-year medical student and representative of the Graduate Student Government Association on campus. The recycling project was assigned to Brown and four other SGA graduate student representatives in 2015, she said.The five grad representatives first conducted a survey among Augusta University students to gauge their thoughts on the lack of recycling on campus.“We had over 300 responses in favor of implementing a recycling program," Brown said.The next step in the process was to create a resolution for a “call of change.” Brown said such a resolution was submitted to AU President Brooks Keel in May 2016.Brown said the response to the resolution had been indirect—Augusta University would consider increasing the availability of bins on campus and would bring back purposeful recycling soon. Brown said that she and her fellow representatives did research and managed meetings with recycling companies close to the area. After much consideration, AU decided to partner with a newer recycling company, Upstream Recycling.“AU ultimately partnered with Upstream Recycling because Upstream Recycling does not penalize if there happens to be contamination within the bins,” she said.The representatives for this project began to meet with the administration to determine contracts and figure out the logistics. The project was in the hands of administration at this point, according to Brown.Brown said the process started with Upstream Recycling providing recycling bins to the campuses. These bins were scattered throughout the Summerville campus between 2017 and 2018. However, the pilot program did not take effect until May 2018 for the Health Sciences campus.“The environmentalist specialists at AU transport the recyclables to a larger bin where Upstream Recycling would pick up those used products," Brown said. "Upstream Recycling transfers those products to their own facility to sort through and separate and remove contaminants. Upstream Recycling then transports the sorted recyclables to a larger facility.”Brown has put together multiple fundraising events and ways to spread word to the community. SGA representatives also applied for a Coca Cola bin grant but didn’t receive that, according to Brown.The plan is to continue to expand the recycling at AU at a manageable pace. This plan consists of recycling aluminum, plastics and household batteries. Brown said that recycling paper will not be on the agenda anytime soon due to HIPPA and FERPA requirements.Brown felt intrinsically motivated to accomplish attaining recycling.“Without a diverse and trustworthy group of team members and the support of the community this goal would not have been achieved,” Brown said.