ASWSU senators and city officials discussed a number of community issues, including the international situation that has led to Pullman residents being unable to recycle glass, during a special joint meeting Wednesday.

Eileen Macoll, the Pullman representative on the Whitman County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, said recycling in Pullman is largely dependent on overseas markets.

“The situation in China is rapidly evolving,” she said.

Macoll said China accepts only the cleanest and best materials for recycling. She asked the people at the meeting to look on the bottom of their cups for a number.

“If it doesn’t say a one or a two on it,” she said, “it will probably go in the garbage.”

The city no longer accepts glass for recycling because it isn’t feasible, she said, which has been an unpopular decision among residents.

“Nobody likes that,” she said.

She said the situation changes constantly and looks grim, but she hopes a market will develop locally so they will not have to ship waste overseas.

“This will affect your generation far more than it will mine,” Macoll told the students.

 Pullman Transit updates

Pullman Transit Manager Wayne Thompson said the city is going through a period of steady growth.

“You are here at a time where you get to experience that and benefit from it,” he said.

The transit department is creating a new bus route, renaming current routes and working on technology, Thompson said. The new tech includes a GPS system to allow riders to track their bus.

“We pretty much got it this week where we think it is fully functioning,” he said. “It’s taken a while.”

He said there has been no movement on a Pullman-Moscow bus route. They are waiting until the 2020 census, he said, so they can receive more funding.

Increasing voting registration

ASWSU senators also presented some of their ideas, which came from initiatives passed earlier this semester, to the city officials. The entire City Council was present, as well as various department heads and the city attorney.

All Campus Sen. Gavin Pielow said students will start receiving voter registration forms and guidance on filling them out as they move into residence halls.

“What we want to see is more voter registration of students,” he said.

Pielow said Washington citizens can request up to 1,000 voter registration forms for free from the state, so residence hall directors could receive them and distribute them as students move in.

Johnson said the city spends money to send ballots out to voters, so students that move away should remember to change their address.

“Make sure you take that extra step when you leave,” he said.

Improving vaccination rates

Arts, Sciences, Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy Sen. Jacob Lizarraga said he is focused on making sure more students get flu vaccinations. He said only about 40 percent of WSU students are vaccinated.

“We really need to bring the vaccinations to our students,” Lizarraga said.

He said his efforts include bringing the opportunity for immunization to campus. If students can get vaccinated at the grocery store, he argued, they should also be able to get vaccinated at the CUB.

This article has been updated from its original version.