LA Community College District Launches Recycling Program

The Los Angeles Community College District (CA) recently launched a new recycling program at Los Angeles Valley College with plans to expand to the District's nine campuses. The program is part of a comprehensive plan to bring the District closer to its goal of becoming zero-waste, and will include clearly marked bins in every classroom and office space, as well as more user-friendly outdoor receptacles. To get the program off to a good start, campus clubs will be holding big visibility and educational events to raise awareness on campus for the new program and to make sure students start using it.

U Florida Launches Paper Saving Campaign

The University of Florida recently launched "Think Before You Ink," a campaign to reduce the amount of pages faculty, students, and staff print and/or copy on campus. The campaign has three separate parts: Save the Paper, Print to Web, and Printer Certification. Save the Paper is designed to reduce the waste and inefficiency associated with campus photocopies and printouts. Print to Web, which is scheduled to launch in the coming weeks, will encourage the use of the Internet and e-mail for distribution o

Columbia U Pilots Program to Reward Recycling

Columbia University (NY) recently began piloting RecycleBank, a program that weighs recycling and pays the recycler for the amount recorded. Each student can obtain a RecycleBank card, and when they take their recycling to the closest kiosk, they swipe their card and collect points. These points can then be spent at participating local and national merchants such as ITunes and Chipotle. The program, which was designed by a Columbia graduate, was originally designed to be used in cities; it has now been modified to be used by campuses.

Portland CC Rock Creek Begins Composting Program

Portland Community College, Rock Creek (OR) recently began a vermicomposting program. An estimated 40,000 worms help to break down about 650 pounds of pre-consumer food waste per month within a large composting bin which was paid for with part of a $12,500 state grant. After the food has completely broken down, it is added to the college's organic learning garden. Vegetables grown in the garden are used in the cafeteria's food service program. The composting program has also been incorporated into college courses, ranging from health to environmental sciences to organic gardening. Students also plan to plant two plots in the learning garden to see how they respond to the worm compost.

RecycleMania Winners Announced

RecycleMania wrapped up its 2008 competition with 58.6 million pounds of recyclables and organics recovered from 400 colleges and universities across the U.S. For the 2008 competition, schools were divided into two divisions, those participating across their entire campus (Whole Campus Division) and those competing with only a subsection (Partial Campus Division). Within each division, schools chose to participate in any of eight categories. Schools that participate in both the Per Capita Classic, which recognizes the institution with the largest amount of recyclables per person, and the Waste Minimization competition, which recognizes the institution with the lowest amount of waste per person, can earn the title of RecycleMania Grand Champion. This year, Kalamazoo College (MI) achieved a recycling rate of 58.93 percent and was crowned the RecycleMania Grand Champion in the Whole Campus Division for excelling in source reduction, waste prevention and recycling. In the Partial Campus Division, California State University, San Marcos claimed the Grand Champion first place for the fourth year in a row, recycling 75.69% of its waste stream. North Lake College (TX), Northwest State Community College (OH), Stanford University (CA), Rutgers University (NJ), Stephens College (MO), Oregon State University, Mills College (CA), Rhode Island School of Design, and United States Coast Guard Academy (CT) were also awarded first place in specific categories.

Georgia Tech Receives National Recycling Award

The Georgia Institute of Technology recently received the 2008 American Forest and Paper Association College and University Recycling Award. AF&PA chose to recognize Georgia Tech for their innovative and creative recycling program. Since the recycling program began at Georgia Tech in 1996, recycling has been successfully integrated into virtually all components of campus life. Last year, the school recovered more than 376 tons of paper products for recycling. AF&PA’s awards program recognizes outstanding school, business, and community recycling efforts.

Loyalist College Starts Recycling Program

Loyalist College (ON) recently launched a recycling program. As an incentive, on the opening day of the program, environmentally-friendly prizes were given to students who recycled or chose to do something green for the day.

U Arkansas Implements Football and Basketball Recycling Program

The University of Arkansas recently began Recycling with the Razorbacks, a program that places green recycling boxes at all home football and basketball games. During the football season, clean-up crews collected more than 36.5 tons of recyclables and reduced the amount of trash going to the landfill to only 61.5 tons.

Indiana U Holds Recycling Bin Design Contest

The Indiana University Task Force for Sustainability is holding a contest for the best recycling bin design. The project is intended to raise awareness about the importance of student participation in a successful campus-wide recycling system. The top 10 winning designers will get the chance to paint their artwork on one of the recycling bins to be displayed throughout campus. The decorated bins will serve as the first-ever outdoor recycling receptacles.

U British Columbia Chemical Xchg. Program Reduces Lab Waste

The University of British Columbia hosts a Chemical Exchange Database in which scientists on campus can obtain excess research chemicals from other UBC laboratories. Since most chemicals can only be ordered in bulk, the database allows scientists to post both opened and unopened chemicals for others to use at no charge since the University has already paid for them. The database, launched in 2004, processed 300 exchanges (1,500 kilograms in chemicals) last year alone and has helped to save an estimated $74,500 in disposal and purchasing costs. The initiative is the result of an effort made by the Sustainability Office, the Department of Health Safety and Environment, and the Health Research Resource Office.

U Southern Indiana to Begin Recycling Program

The University of Southern Indiana will implement a recycling program in campus housing. The program will feature six recycling stations and is expected to start in mid February. The program is the result of a grant provided by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

San Diego State Students Start Recycling Program

A student group at San Diego State University (CA) recently started a recycling program on campus. Success Enabled Pilots, a leadership and academic organization, volunteered to pick up sorted recycling from bins placed outside residence halls, Greek houses and residences within one mile of campus. Bins have also been placed at a nearby apartment complex to serve as a community collection location. Additionally, the group plans to hand out energy-efficient light bulbs to those who use the service.

Michigan State U to Build On-Campus Recycling Facility

The Michigan State University Board of Trustees authorized building a new recycling facility on campus. The facility will triple the amount of materials currently being recycled by allowing the university to expand recycling collection in all buildings. The recycling facility will cost approximately $13.3 million and will pay for itself in 12 years. The Board also heard 26 recommendations to reduce MSU's ecological footprint presented by the Environmental Stewardship Systems Team, which is made up of faculty, staff, and students. The team recommended that MSU improve the way the campus monitors and tracks material waste, schedule classes more efficiently to reduce heating and energy costs in buildings, develop a "green" certification program for units and departments, and reduce energy use in all campus buildings by 9 percent through reducing heating, ventilation, and cooling system running time.

U Alabama Implements Recycling Program

The University of Alabama is planning to implement a recycling program across campus. The program, which comes after a successful pilot phase, will first be implemented in the residences halls, academic buildings, and administrative buildings. Once the program has enough support, the number of bins will be increased and the athletic buildings will receive bins as well.

UC San Francisco Expands Composting Program

Retail Services at the University of California, San Francisco will introduce a "Going Greener" campaign, which will expand the current program to provide composting options to customers and the general public. Composting, recycling, and garbage bins complete with detailed signage will be made available in the plaza. Campus vendors will also participate by composting their compostable to-go ware. The program will be piloted for six months before it will be introduced to other campus locations.

U New Hampshire Recycles Demolished Building Materials

The University of New Hampshire has recycled more than 98% of the rubble from the recently demolished DeMeritt Hall. Most of the masonry will be used as road fill, some of the wood was in good enough condition to sell, and much of the flooring will be re-milled and go back into the new building's floors. The new building will incorporate numerous energy efficient features as well.