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Alex Kozlowski

Oakland University student Alex Kozlowski is recycling for a better future


Alex Kozlowski talks with Kirk Heinze

By Caitlin Cox

Alex Kozlowski, a senior in Environmental Science at Oakland University, is a 2011 Detroit Free Press Michigan Green Leader.  In 2009 he started a recycling program at MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, where he works. Cans and bottles left behind in auditoriums are collected and recycled.  His efforts have led to donations of $600 each to Forgotten Harvest and to local DARE anti-drug education programs.

“Throughout years of working, I noticed that there were a lot of opportunities to recycle things,” says Kozlowski.

Kozlowski then decided to get his coworkers involved in the project by getting his fellow ushers in the habit of collecting recyclables.

“Cans and bottles are collected and saved, instead of throwing them away.”

The habit of recycling is something that Kozlowski says is part of his lifestyle and also part of what is shaping the world today.

“Throughout the course of human history we’ve had three revolutions: agricultural, industrial, technological and the inevitable fourth one will be the sustainability revolution,” says Kozlowski. “It’s just a matter of time and we need to make it happen if we want to survive on this planet.

“I hope we get to a point where green isn't just something we talk about, but rather a part of our everyday lives.”

Greening of the Great Lakes airs each weekend on News/Talk 760 WJR and around the state on the Michigan Talk Network.

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