Lauron Kehrer keeps a bin inside her Williams Hall room that contains aluminum cans and paper to be recycled.

But she said she would recycle more if MSU had an extensive recycling program on campus.

Come February, the music performance junior may see the beginnings of one.

MSU students, University Housing and the Office of Recycling and Waste Management is in the process of creating a pilot recycling program in four residence halls.

The purpose is to collect data and estimate how much students would recycle if a permanent, campuswide program was in place, said Corrinne Thomas, policy chairwoman for the student environmental group Eco.

One floor in each hall — Holmes, Hubbard, Shaw and Williams — will be chosen to participate in the program. Final details will be decided at a Jan. 22 meeting.

"It will allow us to see trends such as seeing what items are recycled the most," said Thomas, a physiology sophomore. "They need to know that before they expand."

The pilot program will allow the committee to grasp how easy it would be for students to incorporate recycling into their daily lives, said Angela Brown, director of University Housing and Food Services.

Thomas hopes No. 1 and No. 2 plastics, aluminum, tin, mixed paper, office paper and newspapers will be picked up twice a week from the halls.

"Recycling is something that is easy to do," she said. "It is a waste to throw away things you can renew."

Holmes, Shaw and Williams halls were chosen because of students' interests and willingness to help. Students in those halls have already experimented with grassroots recycling programs.

"There isn't a history of recycling in Hubbard," Thomas said. "They represent the average student, and this will help to see what complications come up."

Based on the amount of material collected, Brown said, the committee will decide whether the Physical Plant or students themselves should sort recyclables in a campuswide program.

Such a program and a new campus recycling facility may be in place within the next two years, she said.

"The university has hired a consulting group to look at the type of facility to get the information on the types of materials that would need to be constructed to meet a sustainable campus," Brown said.

Last year, Eco collected more than 6,000 student signatures on a petition to expand MSU's recycling program.

Thomas said the group presented the petition to the Board of Trustees "to put pressure on the administration."

Kehrer said it would be "super" if the university created a better recycling program.

"Once people make it a part of their everyday activities, it becomes second nature," she said, adding that more students would recycle if recycling programs were better advertised and more accessible.

"People who live on campus don't have the access to recycling facilities," Kehrer said.

Tyler Hardy, who recycles bottles and cardboard at Williams Hall, said people do not talk enough about recycling.

The astrophysics junior said if there was more communication on campus about recycling, there would be progress toward a more sustainable university.

"It's important to recycle so we don't lose so many natural resources or pollute the land," Hardy said.

Tara Thoel can be reached at thoeltar@msu.edu.