eCycling

This Saturday get rid of your old, outdated electronics by dropping them off at one of three Best Buys locations. Volunteers will even unload your car for you.



To learn more check out this website:

http://www.fox50.com/dpp/community/E_Cycling_Page

Durham - Renaissance Center (7001 Fayetteville Rd, Durham, NC 27713)
North Raleigh - Capital Blvd. (6101 Capital Blvd, Raleigh, NC 27616)
Cary - Crossroads Plaza (237 Crossroads Blvd, Cary, NC 27518)

These items can be recycled:

• Tape Players
• Printed Circuit Boards
• Computer Monitors – Flat Panel
• CD Players
• UPS (personal & network)
• Televisions – CRTs
• Telephones
• Routers
• Televisions – Flat Screen
• Cell Phones
• Resistors Capacitors
• Desktop Computers
• Fax Machines
• Diodes
• Laptop Computers
• Electronic Games
• Terminals
• Keyboards
• Power & Network Cables
• Rechargeable Batteries
• Mice
• Network Hubs
• Peripherals
• Printers
• Switching boxes
• Military Equipment
• Scanners
• Controllers
• Medical Equipment
• Copy Machines
• Modems
• Telecommunications
• VCRs
• Docking Stations
• Commercial Equipment
• Stereos
• CD Roms
• Office Equipment
• Radios
• Hard Drives
• Banking Equipment
• Mainframes

N.C. Law to Ban Plastic Bottles from Landfills

Under a new law that takes effect Oct. 1, North Carolina will be banning all rigid plastic containers from landfills. This includes any bottles with a neck smaller than the container itself.

Every 17.3 seconds, North Carolinians throw away enough plastic bottles to reach the height of the Bank of America Building in Charlotte. Click here to see what happens to plastic when you recycle.

North Carolina is also building the nation’s largest facility to recycle PET bottles, which will able to process 280 million pounds of material per year. One of the primary partners in this venture is carpet manufacturer Shaw Industries Group, LLC, which can turn recycled PET into polyester for use in carpeting.

Clear Path Recycling will construct its facility in Fayetteville, N.C. at the DAK Americas’ Cedar Creek Site. DAK currently operates a PET resin manufacturing facility on-site and has significant infrastructure in place that the new JV will utilize. Approximately 100 new jobs will be created at the facility at the completion of both phases.

Unique Video!

I ran across a very good video that is part of a save energy campaign in Victoria Australia.

It was created by George Patterson Y&R Melbourne. The video demonstrates the result of energy use in the home and greenhouse gas emissions using a black balloons.

Used Book Drive!!!

Our used book drive is well under way! To date we have collected over 200 books!!! Thank you Peace College for your support of this program. I am so encouraged to see how the campus has gotton behind this initiative.

From now until May 11th place your new or used textbooks as well as other books in one of the bins located around campus (Ross, Peace Perk and Flowe). All donations will be sent to Better World Books to fund literacy programs in Africa.

In addition to funding a wonderful program we are excited to support such a positive alternative to sending these books to local landfills. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Used Supply Drive

In the spirit of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Peace will be having an end of semester used supply drive. We will focus our efforts on collecting used school supplies, gently used clothing and hygienic items such as shampoos, etc. All items collected will be sorted and donated to neighboring after school programs and womens shelters. To participate place any usable items from these categories in one of the collection boxes located inside the residence halls. The drive begins Friday and ends May 8th.

(Examples- half empty bottles of shampoo/ conditioner/ lotion, used folders/ pens/ notebooks, clothing, etc.)

Contact Jessica Baxter with questions x2469

What Can One Person Do?

Evidently a great deal according to Rhiannon Pittman a junior at Peace College.

“My client is the Peace College Wellness Center. I created a promotional campaign called "What can one person do?" The goal of my project is to educate the viewers on how to help create a healthier world. I also wanted to inspire people to do something to contribute to a healthier world, even if it’s small.”

“I felt like the best way to achieve my goal was to create a display of things that are bad for our world and offer alternatives that will make our world healthier. By using massive amounts of certain objects, I am hoping to catch the viewer’s attention and shock them with reality of the facts that I have provided along with the objects. The facts that I provided will also educate the viewers and hopefully will inspire them to do something to promote a healthier world.”

Rhiannon Pittman

Click Items below to see how you can make a difference.

Incandescent Bulbs

Styrofoam

Plastic Bottles

Phone Books

Plastic Bags

Encouraging Recycling Through Art

Ashley Prince a junior at Peace College in Raleigh, N.C. discusses her art project in this video recorded in the Wellness Center during Student Showcase at Peace College.

"After seeing the amount of plastic bottle and cans that are used on a daily basis at Peace College, I decided to design a piece that would show this large number. Rather than simply putting a recycling symbol on a piece of paper, I wanted to actually use the recyclable items to deliver the message. The goals of this project were to encourage recycling through art, promote sustainable behavior and provoke thought by turning a common, recognizable symbol into a piece of art. With the help of the campus community, as well as family and friends at home, I collected all the bottle tops and can tabs over a period of a month. The final piece is created with 783 bottle tops and 467 can tabs."

Ashley Prince

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.