Drexel U Increases Campus Recycling
Drexel University (PA) has completed its 2008 Recycling Report. The report found that DU increased its recycling from 21.08 percent to 29.88 percent between 2007 and 2008. The University has attributed the increase to the purchase of new bins that were placed in multiple locations throughout the main campus.
Rice University Completes Recycling Competition
Rice University (TX) has completed its November-only inter-college recycling competition. Sid Richardson College came in first place with 54 pounds of collected material, more than twice the amount of runner-up Wiess College. Campus recycling increased by 52 percent during the competition, which was created by a group of students in a course entitled, Environmental Issues: Rice in the Future.
15 Ohio Campuses Receive Recycling Grants
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) has announced a total of $390,235 in grants to 15 public colleges and universities across the state to expand recycling and waste reduction efforts on their campuses. The grants range from $5,833 to $50,000, depending on the type of project funded and the grant amount requested. Institutions receiving grants will expand existing recycling programs, as well as initiate new ones. Many of the programs are innovative and virtually all involve increased education and awareness of the need for material conservation and waste reduction. Awards were given to the Central Ohio Technical College, Columbus State Community College, Jefferson Community College, Kent State University Campus – East Liverpool, Kent State University – Tuscarawas, Cuyahoga Community College, Kent State University (main campus), Bowling Green State University, Northwest State Community College, the University of Toledo, Shawnee State University, Central State University, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Miami University, and Sinclair Community College.
College of William & Mary to Expand Outdoor Recycling
The College of William and Mary (VA) Student Senate has passed the Outdoor Recycling Containers Act which will place 13 new recycling receptacles on campus. The student environmental group SEAC and the service fraternity APO will empty the receptacles, just as they currently empty the ones located in academic buildings. The new receptacles would be placed around the Sunken Gardens, the UC terrace, the Campus Center, and the Undergraduate Admissions office.
Columbia College Receives Recycling Grant
Columbia College has received $35,000 from the California Department of Conservation's 2008-09 Beverage Container Recycling Grant. Columbia College's grant will be used for purchasing campus recycling stations, consumer education, and funding of a part-time student worker to assist in coordination.
Washington U Phases out Bottled Water
Washington University in St. Louis (MO) has begun phasing out all bottled water sales on campus. The University's beverage dispenser, Coco-Cola Co., has agreed to stop selling bottled water in most campus locations by the end of the fall semester. The company will eliminate bottled water sales in all remaining locations by the end of the spring semester.
Baylor U to Recycle at Homecoming Game
Baylor University (TX) has announced plans to recycle at its homecoming football game this year. Recycling will also be available at the post-parade float breakdown area and at catered events. Volunteers will director recyclers to the correct bin.
College of Southern Idaho Launches Composting Program
The College of Southern Idaho has launched a composting program on campus. Food waste from the campus dining hall is placed in a horticultural worm bin and once processed, is moved to CSI's compost pile located on its 38 acre farm. The compost is then used in the campus' community garden. The program is the result of a partnership between CSI and its food service provider.
Dalhousie U Expands Recycling Program
Dalhousie University (NS) has announced that it is adding another recycling stream to its existing campus program. As of October 2008, electronic products are collected, wiped of data, and transported to an approved provincial recycling depot. Materials from the depot are transferred to a plant where metals, glass, and plastic are recycled into new products. The new program includes exhausted desktop computers, computer periphery, computer components, laptop computers, monitors, desktop printers, and televisions.
Vanderbilt to Offer Recycling at Last 3 Football Games
Vanderbilt University (TN) has announced plans to offer recycling at the school's last three home football games. Recycling receptacles will be available in tailgating areas, around the Vandyville area, and in the stadium. Fans will be able to recycle plastic bottles and aluminum cans, and vendors will be able to recycle cardboard.
Rowan U Moves to Single-Stream Recycling, Receives Award
Rowan University has switched to single-stream recycling. In addition, the University has received recognition from the state Department of Environmental Protection for being New Jersey's first higher education institution to switch to the single-stream recycling.
Whitman College Debate Team Goes Paperless
The Whitman College (WA) Debate Team has stopped using paper to prepare for and attend debates. The team made the decision was motivated by the desire to reduce paper use, printing costs, and the airline industry’s implementation of higher fees for luggage.
U Texas to Offer Free Electronic Textbooks
The University of Texas has announced plans to offer free electronic textbooks as a pilot project during the Spring 2009 semester. The e-book initiative will provide electronic copies of textbooks, which UT will pay for, for students in chemistry, biochemistry, marketing and accounting classes. Initially, students in those classes will use the e-books for free. If the program is successful, students would pay $25 to $40 a book in licensing fees.
Cal Poly Starts Composting Program
The California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo has started a composting program on campus. The new program combines uncooked leftovers from the Campus Dining hall and plant clippings from the campus farm to produce compost. The program, which started in the spring through a county grant, uses an estimated 10 percent of the food waste produced on campus.
Trinity College Launches BYOB Initiative
Trinity College (CT) has launched its Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB) initiative. The program, which is funded by a donation from the Student Government Association, purchases brightly colored aluminum bottles for students to use in dining halls on campus. The purpose of the program, which was started by a student on campus, aims to challenge students to think about the waste created by using plastic water bottles.
Barry U Launches Single-Stream Recycling
Barry University (FL) has introduced single-stream recycling on campus. The new program will make it easier for Barry students, faculty, and staff to recycle by placing all their recyclable items – paper, plastic, aluminum – in a single container for collection and processing.
SHU Moves to Single-Stream Recycling, Distributes Reusable Mugs
Seton Hill University (PA) has moved to a single-stream recycling system on its campus. The new system allows faculty, staff, and students to recycle cardboard, paper, plastics numbered one and two, aluminum, and bi-metal cans all in the same bins. SHU also gave away free reusable mugs to students who signed the Green Commitment, a document that lists ten things students can do to reduce waste. The University allows the "Drink to the Earth" mug to be used in campus dining halls to reduce the use of Styro
U Nebraska Omaha Expands Recycling Program
The University of Nebraska at Omaha has launched a new recycling program on campus. The new programs will use a single-stream system to recycle paper products, cardboard, water bottles, pop cans, and other various types of plastic and metal containers.
Appalachian State U Begins Tailgate Recycling Initiative
Appalachian State University (NC) has begun a new initiative to recycle at every home football game. The Recycling at the Rock initiative will provide tailgaters with green bags to use for recycling and black bags to use for trash. ASU expects to save $60 per ton of recyclables that are recycled.
Brigham Young U Announces Several Green Initiatives
Brigham Young University (UT) has begun a program to recycle plastics. Receptacles have been placed throughout campus. BYU has also announced that the Blue Line Deli, which will open this fall, will use biodegradable plates, utensils, and napkins for all of its meals. The dinnerware will be composted in the campus' compost piles and eventually will be used for campus landscaping. In addition, Brigham Young has purchased all Energy Star-rated appliances for its new cafeteria.
Smith College Eliminates Disposable Cups, Distributes Reusable Cups
Smith College (MA) has distributed reusable metal water bottles to students this year after announcing that disposable cups will no longer be available in the dining halls. The College has also eliminated paper bags at a campus store and made reusable canvas bags available for purchase.
U Connecticut Reduces Plastic Bag Usage on Campus
The University of Connecticut has started the Co-op Cares Bag Program, which is intended to reduce the use of plastic bags and promote environmentalism. For each customer who declines a bag, the Co-op will donate 5 cents – the average cost of a plastic bag – toward one of four charities, including the UConn Foundation’s Green Campus Fund. Customers are given a wooden token to put in collection bins for the charity of their choice.
U Missouri Begins Composting Program
A University of Missouri graduate student has started a composting program that serves to reduce the amount of food waste by 2,000 pounds per week and fertilize two community gardens on campus. As part of the program, Adam Saunders, the student who starting the composting program, and his class of students and volunteers collect the food scraps twice per day from a campus dining hall and tote them on a bicycle trailer to a community garden where they are mixed with manure and, eventually, turned into compost. Saunders hopes to expand the program to include more dining halls in the future.
U Notre Dame Launches Game Day Recycling Season
The University of Notre Dame (IN) has launched 'Game Day Recycling,' a new program designed to make recycling easier for the ND tailgating crowd. As part of the program, students pass out recycling bag in each of the tailgating lots at every game; additional bags are made available at recycling stations placed on lampposts; and recycling bins are available across campus and in the stadium. Additionally, all recyclables go in the same bin. The new program was launched after a successful pilot program during last year's football season.
Concordia U, Ohio U Launch Large-scale Composting System
Concordia University (QC) has launched a large-scale composting system that collects organic waste and composts it on-site. Within 5 years, Concordia plans to be composting 100 tons of organic waste annually. The previous smaller composting systems operated at the university could only handle fruit and vegetable waste, but the new automated thermophilic system is designed to allow for the processing of dairy, meat, and grain products. Ohio University has installed an on-campus in-vessel composter, a unit that will receive up to 50 percent of its energy needs from a rooftop solar array. The University expects to divert up to a 25 percent of its solid waste from the landfill. This includes food waste, biodegradable packaging materials, landscaping waste, and other organic materials. The unit, which is designed to convert waste to soil in 14 days, is expected to be in full operation this fall.
Eastern U, U Delaware Move to Single Stream Recycling
Eastern University (PA) has signed an agreement with Allied Waste, a local recycling company, to offer single streamed recycling on campus. The new system will allow Eastern to accept paper, cardboard, plastics 1 through 7, paper egg cartons, and aluminum cans. The University has also started an effort to recycle used batteries on campus. Small blue recycling bins for batteries have been placed next to the single stream bins. The University of Delaware has also begun a sing-stream recycling project. The pilot program will allow Facilities to test single-stream before implementing a campus-wide launch, while simultaneously exploring ways to reduce costs and improve performance. Goals of the pilot project include raising the recycle diversion rate at single stream locations to 30 percent; improving faculty, student, staff, and visitor access to recycling receptacles; creating a simple, user-friendly system; and issuing and communicating clear recycling guidelines to the campus community.
U Georgia to Pilot Tailgater Recycling Program
The University of Georgia has announced plans to pilot a tailgator recycling program for this fall's football season. UGA has contracted American Stadium Services to circulate through North Campus tailgating areas to collect recyclables before kickoff and up until halftime. The company plans to recycle glass, aluminum, plastic, and paper. If the pilot program is successful, UGA might expand the program to include the rest of the tailgating area.
U Wisconsin Starts Recycling Program at Football Games
A University of Wisconsin student group dedicated to sustainability on campus, REthink Wisconsin, has partnered with UW athletics to start recycling at football games. The organizers hope that the initiative, "Wear red, think green, Badgers recycled," will recycle 30,000 plastic bottles.
Baylor U to Expand Recycling Program
Baylor University (TX) has announced plans to expand its recycling program to include athletic events and campus offices. Recycling bins will be placed at strategic locations around Baylor athletic complexes when a game is taking place. In addition to the containers, food vendors will be requested to recycle cardboard boxes, clean paper, and plastic as they prepare their booths prior to each game. After the event, cleaning crews will remove recyclables left over in stands. The University will offer recycling at football, basketball, softball, volleyball, tennis, and baseball, with other athletic events to be incorporated at a later time. Additionally, over the next month, the first 400 recycling containers will be placed at various offices on campus. An additional 200 bins will be added at a later date. The containers will be used to collect cardboard, white paper, colored papers, plastics, aluminum and tin cans.
Loyola U New Orleans Expands Recycling Program
Loyola University New Oreleans (LA) has expanded its recycling program by installing blue bins at the entrances to all campus buildings. The recycling bins accept aluminum and tin cans. Additionally, the University's cleaning service has placed 40 office paper collection bins throughout campus.
U Maryland to Recycle at Home Football Games
The University of Maryland College Park has launched "Feed the Turtle," a new recycling program for home football games that is part of a campus-wide initiative to green the University. The program will recycle bottles, cans, and cardboard, and compost food waste and biodegradable packaging. In all, more than 50 tons of material is expected to be diverted from landfills. If successful, the program will be rolled out to other Athletic Department venues on campus.
Western Michigan U Greens Form Submission System
Western Michigan University has created a system that allows campus members to submit Temporary Appointment Forms and Incidental Payment Forms online. The change from paper to electronic forms took place in late July.
Yale U Pilots Composting Program
Yale University (CT) has started a pilot program to compost waste from three dining halls on campus. The initiative, which is being led by Yale's recycling coordinator, works with a local waste management company who picks up food waste from the three halls and hauls it to a composting facility nearby. The food takes about 90 days to turn into soil.
U Tennessee Chattanooga Launches Recycling Program
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga has launched a new recycling program on campus. The University partnered with a local recycling center to provide bins for the students, faculty, and staff to recycled plastic, paper, and aluminum cans.
Brevard CC Receives Recycling Award
Brevard Community College's (FL) 25 member Green Team has received Keep Brevard Beautiful's annual Recycling Award. The team has recycled more than 35 tons of paper on campus since the program's launch in September 2007.
CU Boulder Launches Zero-Waste Program for Football Games
The University of Colorado at Boulder has announced the "Ralphie's Green Stampede" zero-waste and carbon-reduction program at Folsom Field, the University's football stadium. The goal is to move toward zero-waste at Folsom Field during the football season and invest in local carbon-reduction projects to match energy used to power the stadium, for team travel, and other football-related energy use. CU hopes to recycle or compost at least 90 percent of the waste generated at Folsom Field this year. Accordi
Macalester College Students Donate Graduation Gowns
Macalester College (MN) has begun a new program that allows graduates to donate their caps and gowns to a local high school. This year, students donated 109 caps and 130 graduation gowns, approximately 1/3 of the gowns worn at graduation. The program, which was initiated by a 2008 Macalester graduate, saved the local high school over $2,000.
Washington State U to Implement Co-mingle Recycling
Washington State University Facilities Operations will introduce single stream recycling campus wide in early August. Recyclables at the WSU campus will be collected as co-mingled, with the exceptions of corrugated cardboard, white paper and glass, which will still be collected separately. WSU officials hope that the new program will increase the volume of recycling materials collected. The implementation of single stream collection follows a pilot program that started in February 2008.
Northland College Establishes New Recycling Collection Center
Northland College (WI) has established a new collection center for a variety of hard-to-recycle items. Members of the Northland community and the general public will be able to recycle used non-alkaline batteries other than car batteries, used cell phones, and spent computer printer ink cartridges. The center will also collect used clothing that is still in good condition. Chartwells, the food service provider at the college, helped to establish the new recycling center.
U Arkansas Little Rock Expands Recycling Program
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has expanded its recycling program to include all types of paper. In the past, students, faculty, and staff have only been able to recycle white paper in bins throughout campus. Now, the UALR community can recycled colored paper, card stock, magazine, cardboard, and paper sacks as well. Additionally, recycling bins for aluminum and plastic have been placed in areas of high traffic to encourage students, faculty, and staff to recycle their drink cans and bottles.
3 NJ Campuses, SUNY New Paltz Donate Unwanted Items
Planet Aid held its first annual College Initiative this year, rescuing close 13,000 pounds of clothing and shoes. Rowan University, Montclair State University, Rider University, and the State University of New York in New Paltz students, faculty, and staff all participated in Planet Aid's event.
Natl Recycling Coalition Announces Recycling Bin Grant Winners
The National Recycling Coalition and The Coca-Cola Company have announced the recipients of their Spring 2008 Recycling Bin Grant program. 23 of the 75 grant recipients were colleges and universities. Recipients were chosen based on a number of criteria, including where bins are likely to have the most impact on recovering beverage containers from the waste stream, ability of recipients to sustain their program in the future, and intention to support collection programs with recycling education and promotion.
U Mississippi Partners with City to Expand Recycling System
The University of Mississippi's campus recycling program and the Oxford Recycling Department recently began an effort to expand the community's recycling program. The partnership has produced an increased number of drop-off recycling areas that are more accessible to students.
Rowan U Receives New Jersey Green Award
Rowan University (NJ) has received the 2008 Excellence in Education Award, given in recognition of the University's commitment, enthusiasm and community pride through cleanups, educational programs, or projects that encourage the proper handling of solid waste. The New Jersey Clean Communities Council, the organization that presented the award, recognized Rowan for its "Clean and Green Day" a regularly held event that engages students, faculty and staff in cleaning up the campus and planting shrubs and flo
Loyola & Lafayette Colleges, CSU Chico Donate Dormitory Items
Students at Loyola College in Maryland donated clothing, dishes, small appliances, school supplies, and non-perishable food items to local non-profit agencies as they moved out of the residence halls this year. The College created a website for the "Good Stuff Campaign" to coordinate the two week collection. Lafayette College (PA) also held a move out donation campaign in which they collected more than 5,000 pounds of unopened food, clothing, personal, and household items, as well as a truckload of furnit
Michigan State U to Reduce Campus Environmental Impact
Michigan State University has announced its plans to begin an Environmental Stewardship Program this summer to help the institution reduce its environmental footprint. Members of the program are tasked with looking into the ways to reduce energy consumption on campus and ways to reduce the amount of trash the University produces. As part of the program, recycling bins will be placed in all of the residence halls starting this fall and in the academic buildings in January of 2009. The initiative is part of the University's membership in the Chicago Climate Exchange, which requires MSU to produce 6 percent less greenhouse gas emissions by 2010 at the campus power plant than in 2000.
Biocycle Magazine Covers Sustainability Initiatives at Allegheny
Biocycle Magazine has published an article on Allegheny College's (PA) sustainability initiatives. The article describes Allegheny's Center for Economic and Environmental Development (CEED), composting program, and commitment to climate-neutrality. According to the article, CEED projects have included watershed protection programs with area elementary and secondary schools; the Environmental Health initiative, which surveys the risks and assesses the damage of environmental factors on the health of the community; the Strategic Environmental Management Initiative, which works with area businesses to reduce costly waste streams and reinvent and promote the use of sustainable products and production processes; and the Sustainable Forestry Project that brings local forest landowners and forestry professionals together to improve woodlot management practices, and substantially increase the economic contribution of the wood products industry in the region. The article also describes the College's composting program, which composts 800 – 1000 pounds per day of kitchen prepared food waste from one dining hall, and its commitment to climate neutrality through the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment.
Lesley, Dartmouth, Simmons, & Ohio State Students Donate Items
Lesley University (MA) students recently donated 15 boxes of gently used clothing and shoes and 4 boxes of craft supplies, school supplies, dishware, desk lamps, un-opened toiletries, pantry items and more to two local aid organizations. The initiative, "Dump and Go," took place during spring move out. Similarly, Dartmouth College (NH) students recently began the "Sustainable Move-Out" program, an initiative where the College collects unwanted items from students moving out of the residence halls and Gree
