Waste Reduction / Recycling
Specific short-term goals identified in MxCC’s Climate Action Plan, 2015-2016:
Action | Measurement | Achievability | Status |
Increase student engagement in recycling and educational activities to increase desired recycling behavior. | Numbers of students attending events (observation) | AAR | |
Incorporate waste reduction materials into New Employee and New Student Orientations (such as e-cycling program, book recycling, which materials are acceptable for recycling, and more). | Waste reduction strategies formally incorporated into these Orientations. | AN | |
Create a system for the campus community to offer suggestions for waste reduction. | Creation of a feedback system. | AN | Suggestion boxes created and distributed across campus. Will be showcased in Installation and on facebook. |
Create a Water Saving Plan. We currently have many outdated sinks in our older lab sections; this is soon to be remedied, in part, with the reconstruction of the chemistry lab (room 221.) | Monitor sinks and check monthly water usage | AAR | |
Investigate installing hand dryers in restrooms to eliminate paper towel waste (trade-off with energy usage) | Installation of hand dryers if efficient | AII | |
Conduct annual campus-wide waste audits. | Annual waste audits held. | AN | |
Reuse and/or recycle all surplus materials. | Increased reuse and recycling of surplus materials (observation). | AN | |
Look into participating in National Recyclemania which promotes campus recycling competitions. | Possible participation in National Recyclemania | AAR | |
Work towards eliminating plastic water bottles and bags on campus. | Fewer plastic water bottles and bags on campus (observation). | AN | |
Evaluate alternatives for wastes generated by academic activities (science labs, art studios, etc.) | Decreased waste generated by academic activities (observation). | AAR | |
Recycling of toner cartridges. | No toner cartridges in land fill. | AN | Done. |
Recycle textbooks and look into feasibility of a textbook exchange program. | Possible textbook exchange program in place and continued recycling of outdated textbooks. | AN | |
Conduct an annual e-cycling event as part of Earth Week and continued collection/recycling of small electronic items. | Annual e-cycling event held and recycling cabinets maintained. | AN | E-cycling is an annual event and quite popular. Attempts made to bring to both campuses. Library maintains an “odd item” recycling center to collect laser printer cartridges, batteries, cds, and more. |
* Achievable now (AN), achievable with additional resources (AAR), achievable through policy changes (APC), achievable through institutional investment (AII)
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