16 Universities to Participate in Reusable Cup Contest
Kill the Cup recently announced the participating schools that will engage in a four-week, nationwide campaign that encourages students, staff and faculty across the country to reduce waste from disposable coffee cups. The campaign, which runs from Oct. 5-30, will reward the university that serves the highest percentage of drinks in reusable cups at participating coffee shops.
North Carolina State U to Salvage 55-Year Old Building
Opened in 1961 and is slated for deconstruction in 2016, the construction waste management plan for the university's round building indicates 95 percent diversion rate through donation or transfer of usable items and working with a facility that specialized in construction and demolition waste in order to reuse and recycle nonhazardous material.
Colorado State U Surplus Diverts 18 Tons of Move-Out Material
The university's Surplus Department and Housing and Dining Services diverted over 18 tons of reusable items this year through the Leave it Behind program, which netted just over $7,000 to fund eight students in the Eco Leaders Peer Education Program who raise sustainability awareness in the dorms.
Idaho State U Receives 50 Recycling Bins
As part of a national recycling grant from Keep America Beautiful and The Coca-Cola Foundation, the new bins will be placed around six buildings on campus. The university was chosen by Keep America Beautiful based on the extent of its need, recycling experience, and its ability to sustain the program in the future.
Ohio State U Students Create Recycling App
Funded by an Alcoa Foundation grant of $100,000, the new Android app, RecycleNow, helps communities maximize their recycling efforts by providing municipalities the ability to explore the economic, environmental and social impact of potential changes to their existing recycling programs.
Northwestern U Evaluates Switching to Single Stream Recycling
The university decided to maintain a dual-stream recycling system, one collection for paper and cardboard, and the other for cans, glass and plastic, ensuring that recycling happens at the highest level possible to maximize resource reuse and to keep a lower rate of contamination.
U South Carolina Collects 19 Tons During Move Out
This year’s Give It Up For Good yard sale collected 19 tons of donations from university students, faculty and staff and raised over $13,900 for the Central South Carolina Habitat for Humanity, beating last year’s total of $9,800. The university will partner with the organization to build or rehab a house this fall with raised funds.
Arizona State U Boosts Waste Diversion Rate With Blue Bags
Blue bags capture items including dry cell batteries, shiny plastic wrappers and bags, single-use coffee pods, and small e-waste not currently recyclable as part of the university's current blue bin commingled recycling program. Blue bags are available free of charge to offices and departments across the Tempe campus.
Roosevelt U Student Develops Phone App to Encourage Recycling
As part of a sustainability studies program course, honors student Dusan Koleno created the Google Play app, Recycle Tracker, to enable users at home and office to keep track of what and how much they are recycling with comparisons, including pie and bar charts, that can be viewed by weekly, monthly or annual usage.
Morehead State U to Hold Charity Donation Event
In an effort to reduce end-of-year waste, Chuck it for Charity is a campus move out donation campaign where Goodwill of Kentucky provides donation bins in several locations on campus so that students can donate gently used clothing, shoes, small appliances, decor, books and school supplies, and miscellaneous household goods.
Eastern Washington U Celebrates Earth Day with Recycling Center Ribbon Cutting
The new 6,964 square foot facility supports the university's ongoing commitment to sustainability and was designed to efficiently process the 331 tons of material handled each year. A new materials compactor/baler and electronic truck scale was installed. The center is also the new home for EWU Surplus Sales, which promotes the re-use of items no longer needed by the university.
U Maryland Diverts 89 Percent of Waste from Landfills
The university's Facilities Management Solid Waste and Recycling Unit recently confirmed the university has achieved an 89 percent institutional diversion rate in 2014. The rate increased by more than 10 percent from 2013. The institutional diversion rate reflects all materials the university diverted from landfills, including construction and demolition waste.
Central New Mexico CC Produces Film About Mt. Trashmore & RecycleMania
The college's Media Production team produced a short film highlighting “Mount Trashmore,” the key event during RecycleMania. The event served as an educational activity for students participating in Campus as a Living Lab and Service Learning projects while also emphasizing the college's relationships with community partners.
Boston U Increases Recycling Rate
The newly installed dual-stream recycling system on every floor of one of the campus' largest residence halls was the result of the university's Student Government Department of Environmental Affairs goal to increase access and convenience.
Fitchburg State U Removes Drinking Straw Option
(U.S.): In an attempt to improve waste reduction, recycling and composting, the university removed the straws, which are hard to spot when conducting post-consumer, dish room garbage separation.
U Malaya Initiates Zero Waste Campaign
(Malaysia): The new campaign, started by students driven by the desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from methane, includes food and garden waste, paper, plastics, metals, textiles, electronics and wood and includes a special focus on reducing organic material, which accounts for over 50 percent of discarded material.
U Sunshine Coast Installs Water Bottle Refilling Stations
(Australia): Aligning with the university's goal to reduce waste and provide alternative choices, three new refilling vending machines have been installed that dispense chilled, filtered water or sparkling water at a low cost to users, in addition to 18 bottle refill stations.
U Sydney Introduces Centralized Recycling Stations
(Australia): Hoping to increase recycling rates and reduce the use of plastic bin liners across campus, the new two-bin system allows for mixed recyclables, plastic, glass, cans and paper, and general waste.
Virginia Tech Eliminates Foam To-Go Containers
(U.S.): With the high number of complaints about the university's use of foam containers, the university recently transitioned to compostable to-go containers available in four different sizes.
U Arkansas Launches Zero Waste Resource
The university's Office of Sustainability has developed a process for event planners to follow to achieve event landfill diversion rates of 90 percent or more. The sustainability office offers containers, scales and other materials for free check out in addition to interns for consultation.
Utah State U Installs Composting System
Contributing to the university's greenhouse gas reduction targets, the new Earth Flow compost unit handles approximately 25 tons annually of landscape waste and post-consumer food from the university. Each batch takes roughly three weeks to create usable landscaping material.
Clark U Expands Composting Capacity
Clark Composts, a student group dedicated to education and expansion of campus composting, assisted in expanding intake of compostable material by equipping the library with bins. The student group will focus next on instituting composting in the newest residence hall and in academic departments.
U Northern British Columbia Reduces Food Waste
Since October 2014, more than 1,000 pounds of food have been provided to local charities from the university's Food Recovery Project that collects and redistributes the surplus food from a new dining hall.
Florida State U Begins Food Recovery Network Chapter
The new student chapter recovers leftover pre-made food from various locations across campus, including home football games and soon, baseball games, and delivers it to various partner agencies around the city, where it is later distributed to people living in shelters or those who are in need.
Florida A&M U Opens Recycling Center
The university's new recycling center will manage and encourage the collection, sorting and processing of recyclables, such as paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and aluminum cans. The new center will also house a cardboard bailer and provide workspace for student interns and volunteers to assist with the recycling program.
392 Colleges Compete in RecycleMania Tournament
This year's competition to encourage waste reduction and recycling on higher education campuses features participation from 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. New this year, students can post digital messages and selfies that document their reduction efforts in order to earn points.
Chicago State U Implements Campus Recycling
(U.S.): As part of the university's Go Green initiative, buildings now have paper, plastic and aluminum recycling bins available throughout campus. This is the first campus-wide recycling plan implemented at the university in over a decade.
Knox College Completes Waste Free Move
(U.S.): Over the most recent winter break, 70 staff and faculty moved, including the contents of five storage rooms, to a newly renovated building without renting a dumpster or increasing its regular trash pickup schedule.
St. Edward's U Reuses Staff Uniforms
(U.S.): Expecting to replace worn out staff uniforms once or twice per year, the university partnered with a locally-owned and operated textile recycling company to repurpose them into dust rags.
West Liberty U Adds 400 Recycling Bins
(U.S.): After past surveys revealed that 84 percent of the campus community would recycle if it was more convenient, the university, aided by funding from West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, added bins to common areas, classrooms and offices.
U Tennessee Knoxville Opens Public Recycling Drop Off Site
The newly designated site for faculty, staff and students accepts paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, steel and aluminum cans, electronic waste, printer cartridges, batteries and scrap metal. In addition to this new site, the university's recycling program is providing at least one dumpster at all residence halls.
Vanderbilt U Extends Recycling to Glass
Spurred by students, the university's Sustainability and Environmental Management Office has recently expanded access to glass recycling to six new campus locations and converted bins designated as event-only to public bins.
2014 GameDay Recycling Challenge Spotlights Leaders
The 2014 results highlight those institutions with the highest total waste diversion rate, with Humboldt State University at the top of the leader board at 86.05 percent, and highest total recyclable material in pounds, Clemson University at the top with 60,724 pounds recycled. The GameDay Recycling Challenge is a friendly competition for colleges and universities to promote waste reduction at their football games. During the challenge, colleges and universities implement waste reduction programs during home football games, track and report the data.
U California Santa Cruz Library Transitions to Zero Waste
As part of a collaborative pilot program between university Grounds, the Sustainability Office, Custodial Services and the library, more than 40 four-stream waste stations will be set up throughout McHenry Library for trash, paper, contained recyclables and compostable waste, and desk-side bins have been modified to accept compostable material.
SUNY Oneonta Opens Thrift Shop
At the new secondhand store items include clothing, shoes, accessories and books, and has a pay what you will policy with $3 as the suggested price for most items.
U Maryland to Implement Composting in Residence Halls
After the Student Government Association and the Residence Hall Association passed resolutions in support, starting in the spring, students in some dorms will be able to use composting bins as part of an pilot initiative to decrease the university’s environmental impact.
Inside Higher Ed: Trashing Morale?
(U.S.): West Virginia University recently switched to single stream recycling. Along with this change, the institution recently announced that faculty members must begin taking out their own garbage and recyclables to central collection stations in order to encourage recycling. Custodial staff will no longer empty individual office trash and recycling bins, which creates higher efficiencies. Overall the change has been received well, but there are some faculty who object to the manner in which the university carried out the change.
