CoPIRG asks students to dive in

By Ky Belk
The Metropolitan

Ever done a Dumpster dive?

Not sure?

Dumpster dives are when people really committed to recycling climb into a large metal trash bin to dig around for recyclable items left by less environmentally concerned citizens.

ãIâve been told that you havenât lived until youâve done a Dumpster dive,ä said Anthony Nocera, 18, a Metro freshman and volunteer with the Colorado Public Interest Research Group.

Nocera may have been joking, but the issues CoPIRG volunteers pursue are environmentally serious. One of these issues is public transit. RTD was the main focus of CoPIRGâs general interest meeting on Sept. 17.

Kelly Wark, a Metro graduate and transportation advocate at CoPIRGâs state office, was the guest speaker at the meeting, which attracted about 30 students.

Wark said Auraria students can play a significant role in creating an earth-friendly, transportation-related public policy because Aurariaâs 30,000 students constitute the largest group of commuters to the downtown area. She said about 700,000 people will move to the Denver area in the next 20 years, which will affect not only transportation and pollution concerns, but also land use.

ãDenver is facing a really pivotal time,ä Wark said.

Wark then painted a grim picture of future Denver if the population growth is not managed from an environmental viewpoint. She described ãmega highwaysä and ãgoing to mega malls through big neighborhoods where nobody knows each other.ä

The success of a proposed sales tax increase initiative that would pay for RTD projects along I-25, including light rail expansion, would be the first step to ensure a bright future for Denver, she said. Building support for that initiative, which will be on the ballot this November, is part of CoPIRGâs agenda for the coming year.

The group also discussed ideas for a student-run book swap, a more comprehensive campus recycling program, homelessness and hunger, and the protection of endangered plant and animal species at their meeting.

CoPIRG is a state organization that is part of a national network. Metroâs chapter is funded by student fees. Each semester, students can pay or waive the $4 fee. Clayt Freed, CoPIRGâs campus organizer, estimates 25 percent of students  at Auraria waived the fee.