How many empty beer cans, soda bottles and fifths of vodka did you see as you left that off-campus party last Friday night? Where do you imagine they went the next day when the owners cleaned up the house?
For 17 off-campus student houses in Westchester, those empty beverage containers are picked up, sorted and recycled for money, which is donated directly to the Children’s Lifesaving Foundation, a local charity that helps homeless children and families in the Los Angeles area. This is possible because of a nonprofit organization called Unican, founded by an junior entrepreneurship major Bryce Franck last September to make recycling easier and more worthwhile for college students.
Franck is the man behind the face of Unican. In high school, Franck and a friend realized they could turn in their recyclables for money, and that they could benefit the earth by recycling while benefiting the community by donating the money they earned.
When Franck got to college and noticed that many fraternity houses and other student houses did not pay for recycling bins at all, he saw a need for an easy and cheap way for students to recycle.
It works like this: First, Franck makes presentations at fraternity chapter meetings. There, he pitches his entirely free recycling service and offers his phone number to anyone who is interested.
“It’s a win-win situation since we give them the recycling bins they don’t have,” Franck said. “They text us for the bins and then I go buy the bins from Home Depot and spray-paint the bins for both inside the house and outside. Then I bring them to the house and show them how to use them; train them. I pick them up every Sunday and it’s super easy for them. They’re always happy and thankful.”
After picking up the contents of the bins each week, Franck sorts the recyclables in his backyard and offers community service hours to any students who are interested in helping with the task. Then, he takes them to RePlanet Recycling Center, where he is compensated for the recycling he has collected, according to the Unican LMU Recycling Guidelines. Each beverage container recycled is worth 5 cents at RePlanet. That money, as well as an extra 10 percent of funds raised that RePlanet donates in its sponsorship of Unican, goes directly to charity.
Last semester, Unican was working with seven Westchester houses, but that number has since expanded to 17, largely because of a recycling competition Franck recently launched between different fraternity houses. He presented at various chapter meetings this semester, explaining not only the program but also the premise of the competition. According to Franck, whichever fraternity compiles the most recyclables in the month between Nov. 11 and Dec. 11 receives a keg in December.
Junior marketing major Michael Sywyk is a friend of Franck’s and a member of the off-campus chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE). Sywyk’s off-campus house hold recently received bins from Unican and his fraternity is getting into the competitive spirit.
“He went to three or four of our SAE houses and dropped off recycling bins. It’s cool to see. All the guys are cleaning up the house and really trying to win this,” said Sywyk.
Right now, Unican earns about $100 a week for charity, but Franck has big dreams for Unican. He hopes that it will eventually become integrated into universities across the nation, and has been spending time this year working out the kinks and creating a universal protocol for the Unican process that can be used anywhere.
Unican has already expanded to two fraternity houses at the University of Arizona, where one of Franck’s friends picks up and sorts the recyclables, donating the money to a local charity there.
“A franchise is what we’re working towards,” Franck said. “We hope to spread this program across the country to fundraise for more charities.”
