KARLA SHIRVANIAN | staff writer

Toney Snyder takes over new position to greenify APU.

As I enter into Toney Snyder’s office in the mail center on west campus, he welcomes me with a warm smile while he busily talks to a company about bringing Astroturf to the university to help with conservation.

Married for 25 years and the proud parent of six children, Toney Snyder has spent the last seven years as the assistant director of auxiliary services. In that position he handled the bookstore, duplicating, warehousing, receiving, purchasing and mail services. Now Toney holds the position of Assistant Director of Environmental Stewardship, which involves utility analysis and management and analyzing the electric, water, waste, and gas bills to see the usage habits of the school.

Although Snyder does not have an environmental degree, he is working hard to learn all he can about the work he is doing and how he can continue to improve the programs being implemented at APU.

“I have no formal education in this field but I went to a lot of schools and talked to different schools and am attempting to educate myself on these issues. Some of the guys in facilities have a pretty good knowledge and I rely on their background,” Snyder said.

Snyder has recycling in his blood. It is something that has been instilled in him from childhood.

“I was raised by a mom who made us use and reuse our stuff, she took us to the Goodwill store. My mom grew up in the depression and she taught us to reuse stuff all the time. I was just raised in a way that you do not throw stuff away that has more value. It is kind of built into me to reuse stuff because that is the way I was raised,” Snyder said.

Snyder also was involved in a type of recycling in his former profession as a manager at auto stores. Used parts would be taken in and rebuilt as a form of recycling.

In his former position at APU Snyder felt he was putting forth the same effort to recycle and create change in a person’s life, nothing being too small to effect a person’s life.

“When I was over at the warehouse I helped in university staff and faculty moves. When we did that we upgraded people’s furniture. When we’d move a faculty or staff member we’d set up their office with new equipment. It was a form of recycling and it was what my mom put into me. I am a recycler at heart,” Snyder said.

Snyder has large goals in mind for the APU campus. He has already helped reduce the number of dumpsters on campus by implementing a pre-sorting of sorts with cardboard. Cardboard is now put in a large bin to be taken as it is, therefore reducing the cost by reducing the number of dumpsters.

One of Snyder’s other goals is to look at trash compactors and cardboard bailers that will be more cost effective and make APU more efficient.

He also wants to provide recycling bins in all the buildings and have volunteers take the bags to the designated dumpsters on campus. Taking the bag to the recycling bin takes only one minute and with 50 students giving half an hour a week between classes, a campus-wide program can be developed at no cost.

The program would center around the student’s schedules and would provide a cost-effective way to sort the recycling before Athens, the trash company, picks it up.

Yet it is not only about making the campus “greener.” It is also about looking to help students that are willing to take time to help the effort of becoming a more environmentally conscious campus.

“If we could have a scholarship set up that would be a dream come true,” Snyder said.

The ultimate goal is to be better stewards of our trash by reducing it. This also makes us better caretakers of the environment.

Snyder wants students to know that the university has been a part of a recycling facility because Athens sorts and recycles all trash.

Now is just the time to be more responsible and conscientious about the environment and where trash is going.

“The university has also made a commitment to do a better job than what they’re doing. In creating this position this is the first step in saying we are doing the right thing to protect the environment,” Snyder said.

Those who have had an opportunity to know Snyder in this new position describe him as passionate, excited and knowledgeable.

“Toney is conscientious, with a passion for what he is doing right now. He is a man of God and carries it with everything he does, just a model employee,” facilities management personnel Bill Asher said.

There is an excitement when Snyder just utters a few words about his sustainability ideas and all they could mean for APU. He has a zeal for the things that are happening and the things that are being developed for the environmental stewardship of APU.

“He is very enthusiastic and excited about learning new ways of expanding our campus’ sustainability,” graduate assistant Outdoor Adventures coordinator Sarah Morrill said.

Snyder’s superiors and co-workers boasted about the passion and fervor Snyder will bring to the position. His passion is one that brings a great motivation to see change happen.

“He is a great researcher, certainly has a passion to make this happen. He’ll do a good job researching and recommending how we look at both conserving what we have and also alternative resources for the future,” executive vice president John Reynolds said.

Snyder is doing more than making APU an environmentally friendly place, he is bringing awareness to students, faculty, and staff alike.

“He is an incredible person to motivate and inspire our awareness,” Morrill said.