Recycling Matters
Winter 1998
Features:
- Welcome Sarah Archer!
- A new Recycling Coordinator joins us here at U of M Grounds and Waste Management.
- Let the Games Begin!
- Ecolympics, the environmental competition between residence halls is underway.
- New 734 Area Code will Generate Huge Amounts of Waste
- Find out how you can help reduce this amount in the upcoming months.
- Building Audits Continue to Help Reduce Waste
- What an audit is, and how they can be requested.
- University Members Receive Waste Reduction Awards
- Grounds and Waste Management award outstanding waste reduction and recycling efforts.
- Pilot Food Composting Program Continues in Residence Halls
- A program that is turning residence hall food scraps into fertilizer.
- Football Recycling Program Receives National Publicity
- Recycling at Football games makes a difference.
- Surfing the Web?
- Check out some environmentally friendly links.
- Overhead Transparency Recycling Program a Success!
- The Recycling Office and 3M collaborate. Find out all about it, and what you can do to help.
WELCOME SARAH ARCHER!
We have a new Recycling Coordinator here at U of M Grounds and Waste Management! Sarah Archer joined our staff in December, filling the position vacated by Erica Spiegel last summer. Sarah's job focuses on providing recycling education and promotional support to the University community. She is excited at the opportunity to reach out and give our program a boost.
Sarah brings with her experience from previous employment as the Training Director for the Girl Scout Council, as well as the Environmental Education Coordinator for Ypsilanti Township. In Ypsilanti, she helped Lincoln Consolidated School District set up their recycling program. One of Sarah's personal interests is vermicomposting. While we currently have no plans to expand our worm composting program, Sarah will be happy to answer any questions or simply talk to those of you who do have worm bins. Sarah possesses a strong respect for the Earth, which she feels her parents helped to instill in her from a young age. She hopes to help motivate us all to practice environmentally friendly behavior.
Sarah's goals include increasing the awareness and involvement of students, staff, and faculty in our recycling program. She also hopes to make our system more people-oriented, user friendly, and, of course, as fun as possible. Sarah plans to take advantage of the Environmental Theme Semester to spread the message of the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling through workshops and special Earth Day activities.
Sarah believes that conservation should be practiced all the time, not just for one day or one semester. She plans to organize workshops and presentations to be available during orientation, as well as for use in residence halls and various departments throughout the year. Some new ideas to watch for include paper making workshops and games emphasizing materials that are recyclable. Sarah would also like to expand the Buy Recycled program supporting the purchase of supplies made from recycled materials.
With her positive attitude and motivation, Sarah will be sure to make a difference in our program. She believes in the importance of personal contact and the power of changing behavior by the force of example, so plan on seeing Sarah's smiling face around campus. Also, feel free to call our office with your recycling concerns, and talk to Sarah or one of our interns. We'd like to welcome Sarah Archer to The University of Michigan Community!
Let the Games Begin!
If you can't make it to Nagano this year for the Winter Olympics, don't fear. U-M Waste Management, the Residence Hall Association, University Housing, and the Environmental Theme Semester are bringing the games to campus. We are proud to be a sponsor of this years' Ecolympics!
The Ecolympics is an environmental competition among the University's residence halls and their occupants. The purpose of the competition is to stimulate the conservation of energy and water and to reduce the amount of trash generated and increase recycling. University Housing will be keeping track of the amount of energy and water and the amount of trash and recycling that is produced by each residence hall and each residence hall will be ranked according to their conservation efforts. The results will be posted every month in the residence hall recycling closets. The residence hall that proves to conserve the most resources over the semester will receive an award and an ice-cream party. Even if you aren't a member of a residence hall community, become an eco-champion by adhering to a few simple eco-rules:
- Turn off the lights when they are not being used
- Avoid products with unnecessary packaging
- Use reusable containers
- Use your own bag when shopping
- Avoid disposable plates, cups, bowls, and utensils/Carry your own mug and utensils
- Double-side copies
- Reuse containers, paper, bags, etc. whenever possible
- Buy in bulk
- Buy materials made with post-consumer recycled content
- Don't let the water run if its not being used (for example, brushing your teeth)
New 734 Area Code Will Generate Huge Amounts of Waste
With the new 734 area code will come a huge amount of solid waste in the form of letterheads, business cards, and stationary. The U-M Recycling Office wants to help reduce the amount of waste that will be generated over the upcoming months by offering University departments and offices some waste reduction options.
- Donate your letterhead and excess paper to ENACT (Environmental Action on Campus). This group will be reusing recovered paper to make recycled notebooks. The group will provide your office with desk-side boxes and arrange to pick up the materials for you. Call Matt Healy at 647-9189 for more information. (GWM advises altering letterhead to protect from misuse)
- Use a stamp or sticker to change the area code on existing letterhead, business cards, and stationary
- Use the old letterhead or stationary as scrap paper for in-office memos, drafts, notes, etc.
- Cut off letterhead and donate paper to childcare centers, pre-schools, etc. that can use it for drawings and artwork
If you have questions about how your office or department can put its excess paper to good use, please contact Waste Management at 763-5539 or e-mail Recycling (get address).
Building Audits Continue To Help Reduce Waste
Throughout the fall semester, three student recycling interns have been conducting waste reduction audits of several University buildings. Buildings that have participated in these audits include, the Frieze Building; the Dennison Building; and Mason, Angell and Haven Halls. Auditors seek to identify areas where waste tan be reduced and recycling efforts increased. After the initial walk through of the building, the auditor meets with the building's's recycling contacts to discuss work habits in their offices and also meets with Building Services personnel to discuss the waste and recycling collection process.
Reducing waste can translate into financial savings for your office, as well as a healthier and more environmentally friendly environment. Next semester, Randall Laboratory and the Dana Building will be participating in audits. If your building or office is interested in participating in a waste audit for Winter term, call Waste Management at 763-5539 or send an e-mail to Recycling (get address).
University Members Receive Waste Reduction Awards
Every year Grounds and Waste Management commends outstanding waste reduction and recycling efforts with the Waste Reduction Awards program. The fiscal year 1997 was undoubtedly one of the best years ever for the paper recycling program, as the University recycled over 2000 tons of paper, diverting 30% of its waste stream from the landfill! All campus recyclers deserve a pat on the back. But there were also some overachievers that deserved special recognition.
The 1997 Waste Reduction Awards were given to seven individuals from four different UM Departments. Stephanie Dascola from University Hospital Education Center's Department of Family Medicine received an award for her efforts to increase recycling in her office as well as her innovative waste reduction practices. As webmaster for her office, Stephanie has kept several pages of information, including an alumni newsletter, from going to print and has instead made the information available on a web page. Congratulations Stephanie!
Peggy Krom from the Business School's Department of Admissions and Student Services received an award for her tireless and enthusiastic support of recycling in the Business School. Peggy is also part of the School's "Green Team" the group responsible for evaluating and greening, the School's practices. Her creativity and enthusiasm has inspired her co-workers. Way to go!
A team of recyclers from the Institute for Social Research (ISR) received an award for diverting over 2,700 boxes of paper from the landfill. Peggy Norgren, Joyce Meyer, and Bonnie Lee Kraus encouraged the use of non-paper methods of data storage, such as CD-ROM, microfiche, computer tape, etc. Their efforts have resulted in the recycling of tons of old files and a substantial financial savings for ISR!
Jon Lillemoen and Michael Hanna from the Department of Occupational Safety and Environmental Health received awards for a unique waste reduction program they initiated. Before the program was implemented, OSEH used to send all researchers the same packet of information. Some of this information was not pertinent to all researchers and was therefore a form of waste. Jon and Michael stepped in and found out how to meet researchers needs without wasting paper. The new program is researcher specific and saves OSEH paper and money. Way to go!
If you know of any interesting waste reduction efforts being made by members of the campus community, please let us know. Meanwhile, visit our web site and find out ways in which your department or office can reduce or eliminate waste: http:// www.recycle.umich.edu.
Pilot Food Composting Program Continues in Residence Halls
Thanks to financial assistance from the Washtenaw County Department of Public Works' "Green Backs for Green Acts" Grant Program, Waste Management and the City of Ann Arbor have been participating in a pilot food composting program. Its purpose is to test the technical and economic feasibility of adding food waste from Dining Services kitchens to the City-operated yard waste composting facility. It is the first program of its kind in Michigan and is being used to develop legislation that would help municipalities compost food scraps.
Food scraps, such as coffee grinds, fruit and salad trimmings, old bread and bagels, etc., from the food prep areas are being collected from Markley, South Quad, and East Quad Residence Halls and are being sent to the City's composting site at the landfill. The pilot program has diverted over 15 tons of food waste from the landfill in the first three months. These scraps are in the process of being turned into a rich fertilizer that can be purchased from the city for personal landscaping and gardening. If you are interested in purchasing compost from the City of Ann Arbor, please call 971-8600.
Football Recycling Program Receives National Publicity
The football recycling program was started in 1995 by Grounds and Waste Management staff with the assistance of some ambitious graduate students. Since the program started, we have collected over 20 tons of cardboard, saving an estimated 340 trees and preventing 5% of the stadium waste from being landfilled. This year, UM began collecting plastic stadium cups, a type of plastic that is not normally accepted in the University's Recycling Program. A company is using the stadium cups to make plastic lumber. This is helping to open new markets in the recycling industry.
The addition of the stadium cup recycling program along with the continued success of the cardboard recycling program drew the attention of National Public Radio's Great Lakes Radio Consortium(GLRC). The GLRC broadcast their story on UM's Football Recycling Program nationwide during the week of November 17. The story is now archived on the GLRC's web page and can be heard with a free downloaded software program called RealAudio. The GLRC's web address is www.glrc.org. Be sure to check out the U-M Recycling web page as well, http:// www.recycle.umich.edu.
Surfing the web?
Next time you strap on your mouse and hit the waves of the web, be sure to check out the University of Michigan's Recycling site as well as a few other informational recycling pages.
U-M Recycling (www.recycle.umich.edu)
Although our site is undergoing major reconstruction it offers answers to many common
questions that are asked about recycling at U-M. We also have information on the history of U-M's Recycling Program, current news and events, archived editions of Recycling Matters, waste reduction tips, and a list of useful recycling and environmental links. Be sure to bookmark this one!
University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (www.ulsf.org)
This site is home to an organization that is dedicated to increasing environmental stewardship on university and college campuses. Open this site and find out how cutting edge institutions are becoming leaders in the environmental movement.
Reaching New Heights: Hot Recycling lssues for l998 (www.wasteage.com/12recy.htm)
This site contains an article that sums up the recycling issues of the 90's and gives a good perspective of what the recycling world can expect in the upcoming few years. The writer focuses on legislative obstacles, raw materials subsidies, and the need to stimulate recycling markets worldwide.
Waste Age (www.wasteage.com)
This site has compiled several articles on recycling from various recycling publications. Much of the material is geared towards industry professionals, but there is also a a great deal of information for anyone interested in recycling issues.
The Sustainable Business Network (www.envirolink.org/sbn/)
"The Sustainable Business Network is a focal point on the Web for the full range of environmental business sectors, from recycling to green building, from renewable energy to organic products, from social investing to certified forestry." At this site, you will find great information on a wide range of topics that will help your office be more environmentally friendly.
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (www.deq.state.mi.us)
Find out about the most recent developments in Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality by checking out their web site. This site contains press releases, links to environmental resources, and a wealth of other information.
Overhead Transparency Recycling Program A Success!
Last year, the Recycling Office became involved with 3M's Transparency Recycling Program and we are now able to report that your participation in the program has made it very successful! A rough calculation estimates that the University has sent 3M over 1,000 pounds of transparencies in less than 9 months! 3M has extended their thanks and congratulations to the University of Michigan for their successful efforts.
If you are not familiar with the transparency recycling program, the following information will help you start a program in your office or department:
- Over 15 million pounds of polyester from transparencies is dumped into landfills each year.
- Most overhead transparencies are made from Type I polyester, the same material that soda bottles are made from. These transparencies are not accepted by most community recycling centers.
- The 3M Corporation recognized this problem and started a program to recycle their transparencies. Anyone can send transparencies to be recycled to the 3M address listed below. The transparencies are shredded upon their arrival at 3M, therefore insuring confidentiality. The shredded material is then converted to fiber fill that is used to make carpets, office chairs, insulating products, automotive products, and more transparencies.
- To participate, collect transparencies from your office and either send them to Grounds and Waste Management in campus envelopes, or send them directly to 3M in reasonably sized boxes. If you send them to 3M, send them book freight and please be sure to indicate on the return address what department they are from and include "The University of Michigan".
Ship or mail transparencies direct for recycling to: |
Or campus mail them to us and we'll consolidate for mailing: |
Content modified: August 6, 2001
Please direct questions and comments to Recycling (get address). |
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