The RecycleMania Results

From Jessica Baxter

The RecycleMania results have been announced and we can say that we beat Meredith College. In addition to competing against Meredith, we competed in 3 categories, Grand Champion, Per Capita Classic and Waste Minimization. In Per Capita Classic, we competed to see which school could collect the greatest amount of recyclable material on average per person. We came in 86th out of 293 schools! Our final total was about 15.03 pounds per person over the entire 15-week competition. The winning school was McNeese State University with an average of 76.19 pounds per person over the course of the competition.

The second category we competed in was Waste Minimization. In this category we tried to create the least amount of waste per person. We came in 102nd out of 148 schools in this category. On average we created 64.06 pounds of trash person (over the course of 15 weeks).

The final category was Grand Champion. This is the percentage of your total waste that you recycle. We came in 119th out of 206 with a 23.47% recycling rate. We are well on our way to our 50% goal. We estimated our rate at about 10% during the trash audit held in the fall.

The Story of Stuff

Anyone concerned about over consumption and waste should visit a very provoking web site, storyofstuff.com. Watch the video which is about 20 minutes long. I am sure you will have a somewhat different perspective on the life cycle of consumer products and the way you buy.

Falling Into Place

Have you ever felt that things are finally falling into place? I am feeling that way today. Over the last two semesters at Peace College many positive accomplishments have occurred due to the combined efforts of several individuals and departments. Each has played positive a role in educating and inspiring the campus community to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Some Noted Individuals and Groups
- Lauren Gerber in the Development office was instrumental in Peace College winning a grant from Coke for 60 recycle containers.
- Melanie Bissinger with Aramark provided alternatives to Styrofoam to-go trays.
- Jessica Baxter our Vista Representative recruited, encouraged and inspired our Green Team to action.
- Our Green Team led by Imogene Miles is passionate about changing the way we think about waste and has motivated others to join her campaign.
- Our Administration has recognized and supported the efforts of the Green Team, including the trash audit and the Green March on Peace.
- Our Faculty continues to include sustainability in curricular. I have been approached by students from Art, Biology and English creating projects related to sustainability.
- Housekeeping and Grounds Keeping energetically embraced all of our sustainability efforts. Including the rethinking of traditional cleaning and the conversion to green cleaning.
- The Campus Community has warmly embraced our somewhat unorthodox methods of educating, informing and inspiring everyone to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Accomplishments
- Installed low flow shower heads and sink aerators and energy star compliant washing machines. Estimated savings of 760,000 gallons per school year. Reduced our water and sewer rate by an estimated $4,752 per school year.
- Replaced 400 incandescent bulbs with fluorescent bulbs. EPA estimates a savings of $63 in energy costs over the life of each bulb. That is a savings of over $25,000 in energy costs, $18,000 in labor costs and we throw away one bulb versus 10.
- Replaced older washers and dryers with Energy Star rated washer and dryers that use 67% less water, 50% less energy, and 75% less detergent
- We have converted from traditional cleaning materials to Green Seal certified products. Switching to green cleaners can significantly improve indoor air quality; reduce cleaning-related health problems and absenteeism and increases performance of students and staff alike.
- Our Student led Green Team performed a trash audit that was informative and inspired many within the campus community to recycle. As a result the event was featured on two local news stations and also one in Charlotte.
- Our Student led Green Team has “marched” on campus certifying offices and classrooms that are meeting Green Team sustainability requirements.
- Our Student led Green Team presented at the NC Campus Compact Student Conference on "The Green Revolution: How to Get Your Campus Onboard".
- Helped facilitate Peace going Styrofoam Free
- Participated in RecycleMania in the categories of Waste Minimization and Per Capita Classic. As part of RecycleMania we have noticed significant increases in the amount we are recycling and decrease in our total waste.
- Won a grant from Coke for 60 recycle bins that will be placed throughout campus. We hope to place a recycle container everywhere a trash can is located.
- Created a Green Team Blog (http://peacecollegegreenteam.blogspot.com/ ) that helps to keep our campus community informed and involved with campus, local and national sustainability related issues.
- Joined the world wide Vote Earth initiative (http://www.voteearth2009.org/home/ )
- Taking an active role in sustainability organizations such as Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE)

We are developing some exciting programs for the fall semester! Follow the blog for additional information.

Roadside Trash

Litter seems to be out of control! It’s everywhere! I have noticed more on our roads, in parking lots (including Peace College lots) and in parks. Is it because it’s spring and everyone is outside more? Can we blame it on the economy? It’s a mystery to me why anyone would throw anything out of a car window. Or take in the beauty of a park and leave behind a fast food cup and bag. Who are these people that litter?

According to WakeGov.com the most persistent, deliberate litterers tend to be between the ages of 11 and 24 years old. The primary reasons people litter include:

· No sense of ownership or stewardship – just don’t care
· Believe that someone else will pick up after them
· Unaware of the link between the environment and their littering behavior
· Believe it is acceptable because litter has already accumulated in a location
· Convenience
· Willful littering to make a statement
· Unintentional

People who think it is acceptable to litter in certain circumstances gave the following reasons for doing so:

o The waste was organic
o No bins were available
o At sporting event where waste is collected

What is litter? Keep America Beautiful, Inc. claims 33% of it is fast food waste.

How do we prevent littering?

1. Set an example by not littering.
2. Pick up one piece of litter every day.
3. Every week, pick up all the litter in front of your house or on our campus, including the street
5. Make sure that your trash cans have lids that can be securely attached. If you have curbside trash service, don’t put out unopened containers or boxes filled with trash.
6. Carry a litter bag in your car.
7. Ask your co-workers, neighbors and or friends to join you in cleaning up an area of campus or one public area where litter has accumulated.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Peace College has made significant strides in our recycling efforts in the spring semester. We should also consider the other 2 components of the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle program.

Reduce What You Buy

Waste reduction starts at the decision to purchase. By making slight alterations to your shopping list you can significantly reduce the amount of waste created in and around the home.
· Buy products in the largest size you can use; avoid excess packaging
· Buy products that can be reused such as rechargeable batteries
· Reduce paper waste by cancelling unwanted mail
· Buy non-toxic cleaning products whenever possible
· Sell or give away unwanted items
· When purchasing one or two items ask the cashier to keep the bag or bring your own.
· Buy juice in concentrates and drink out of reusable containers instead of single serving packages

Buy Reusable and Long Lasting Items

· Use rechargeable batteries in toys, flashlights and radios
· Use a real camera instead of disposable ones
· Switch to cloth napkins, sponges and cloth towels or wipes
· Use a washable commuter mug
· Use washable plates, cups and silverware for parties and picnics instead of disposable products
· Use an electric razor with replaceable blades instead of disposable razors.

Recycle Medicine Bottles

Peace College Health Services Mari Lippig wishes to help you recycle your empty prescription bottles. Mari hopes to send most of these bottles to a mission hospital in Guatemala and local free clinics. Before sending her your empty prescription bottles take off the labels, so no one has access to your personal information and then clean and sanitize the bottles thoroughly.

If you rather not send Mari your empty prescription bottles here are fun tips to help you recycle!

“The Paper Thing Again”

“Paper comes from an enormously abundant renewable resource. It’s biodegradable, so it’s not a threat in landfills (or woodstoves). So…frankly I don’t give a hang about using a few more sheets. The best you can do by reducing usage is to put paper industry workers out of work.”

I saw the above comment on one of my favorite blogs. It is hard to believe someone can actually believe that. I thought it would be helpful to provide a few facts to dispel such idiocy.

It takes a lot of resources to produce, package, ship and eventually discard a few sheets of paper. Here are some facts from a great web site you may want to visit.

http://www.printgreener.com/earthday.html

Printing Facts
· Average cost of a wasted page $0.062
· Average employee prints 6 wasted pages per day, that's 1,410 wasted pages per year!
· The average U.S. office worker prints 10,000 pages per year.
· While 3 out of 4 office workers print from the Internet, 90% of people with a printer at home print Internet content.

Consumption
· In 2004 the United States used 8 million tons of office paper (3.2 billion reams). That’s the equivalent of 178 million trees!
· The U.S. is by far the world’s largest producer and consumer of paper. Per capita U.S. paper consumption is over six times greater than the world average.
· In the United States, we use enough office paper each year to build a 10-foot-high wall that’s 6,815 miles long. That’s more than the distance from New York to Tokyo!

Energy
· The U.S. pulp and paper industry is the second largest consumer of energy and uses more water to produce a ton of product than any other industry.
· Production of 1 ton of copy paper uses 11,134 kWh (same amount of energy used by an avg household in 10 months).

Water
· Making one single sheet of copy paper can use over 13oz. of water– more than a typical soda can.
· Production of 1 ton of copy paper produces 19,075 gallons of waste water.

Waste
· One ton of paper requires the use of 98 tons of various resources.
· In 2003, paper and paperboard accounted for 35 percent of the total materials discarded in the United States.
· Production of 1 ton of copy paper produces 2,278 lb of solid waste

CO2
· Production of 1 ton of copy paper produces 5,690 lb. of greenhouse gases (the equivalent of 6 months of car exhaust).
· Dumping paper in landfill adds methane to the atmosphere as it decomposes, with 20 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

Ink
· If you were to fill up the tank of your car with Hewlett-Packard or Lexmark ink, it would cost $100,000.
· If you filled an Olympic-size swimming pool with ink it would cost $5.9 billion.

Artful Waste

Peace College student, Elizabeth Prince is collecting bottle tops for creating a work of art that will focus on recycling. She spent about 45 minutes at the large recycling container behind Belk Building this morning collecting tops. If that won't get you an “A” I do not know what will. She would not go into much detail about her creation but committed to letting Anthony and I have first peek when completed. We intend to take pictures and publish when completed.

Update: RecycleMania

We have seen significant gains in recycling over the past seven weeks. Each person on campus has averaged 1.02 pounds of waste per day. Of which 23% has been recycled! In the initial week of tracking we recycled approximately 14% of our waste. For the last 2 weeks (excluding spring break) we have recycled 35% of our total waste. We have a way to go to meet our goal of recycling 50% of our total waste by March 28th the last day of RecycleMania.

I believe we can reach our goal if everyone would do just 4 simple things:

1. Move the trash can away from your desk to a location where you will need to walk to it to put trash into it.

2. Put a recycling container as close to your desk as possible.

3. Take the unused paper out of your printer and load with paper that has been printed on one side. When you need clean paper load just enough for the document you are printing.

4. Watch the video Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It will change the way you think about trash.

Save Energy, Money and Reduce Waste by Switching to Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars. The average U.S. home has 30 incandescent bulbs.

If every U.S. household changed its five most frequently used light fixtures or bulbs to ENERGY STAR-qualified lighting, each family would save more than $60 annually ($30 or more in each bulb’s lifetime) in energy costs. National annual energy savings would be $6 billion, equivalent to the annual output of more than 21 large power plants.

Try the EPA’s Personal Emissions Calculator to obtain an estimate of your personal greenhouse gas emissions or your family’s greenhouse gas emissions.