Where the R's Are: A Module in Sustainability and Participatory Mapping

Campus recycling staff at New Mexico State University requested recommendations for locations of additional bins. The author seized the opportunity to answer this inherently geographic question by designing a senior-graduate level special topics course. Students who enrolled designed a mapping activity for freshman students which would introduce them to geographic data collection and analysis. Students mapped bins on paper campus maps and with GPS units. Researchers produced a population density surface and created a surface of linear distance to a recycling bin, and a locational-ranking surface that identified areas that would benefit from new/additional recycle bins. A total of 192 outdoor trash bins and 17 outdoor recycle bins were identified. Results identified eight locations for addition of new bins. Recommendations based on this experience include a broad approach to recycling and geographic education that emphasizes sustainability and the importance of the reduce, reuse, recycle, the 3 R's.