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MUSC joins recyclemaniacs
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by Caroline Davila
Sustainability Program, Engineering & Facilities
As part of a national recycling campaign involving colleges and
universities across the nation, MUSC has committed the next 10 weeks to
“RecycleMania,” with a goal of becoming the top academic recycler and
trash reducer in the country.
Starting Jan. 18, MUSC will work to collect the largest amount of
recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the
least amount of trash per capita, and have the highest recycling rate
among competitors.
Throughout the friendly competition, MUSC’s recycling program office
will report measurements on a weekly basis. A much-coveted trophy
awaits the winner in early April.
Organized by the National Recycling Coalition in collaboration with the
Environmental Protection Agency’s Wastewise Program, RecycleMania
started in 2001 as a match between Ohio University and Miami University
of Ohio. The program grew, and in 2008 MUSC competed with more than 200
schools and finished in the top five in three categories: office paper,
cardboard and per capita classic.
With more than 93 buildings and spread across 76 acres, the MUSC campus
is like a small city consuming large amounts of resources and
generating much solid waste. Last year, 26 percent of its total waste
was recycled, because of everyone’s response to MUSC’s sustainability
efforts.
The potential always exists for further reducing the amount of
resources that are consumed and disposed. RecycleMania provides an
added incentive to engage the MUSC community in recycling and waste
reduction in a fun and friendly way.
The competition helps create awareness of existing environmental
programs and is intended to instill lifelong sustainable habits by
participants. In the short run, surveys have indicated that 80 percent
of participating institutions experienced an increase in recycling
collection during the competition period.
For more information, visit http://www.musc.edu/gogreen
for energy saving tips, recycling schedules and a chance to win a
weekly prize. Find the recycling question of the week in The Catalyst
(and other places on campus); submit an answer by the following Tuesday
to recycle@musc.edu for a chance to win the weekly prize. For
information, call 792-9745.
To every MUSC
student, faculty and staff member who pitched in—thank-you. Also thanks
to the efforts of the Engineering & Facilities Recycling Program,
Maintenance,Housekeeping, Grounds, MUHA Environmental Services,
Dietary, Print Shop, Risk Management and Surplus (MUHA and MUSC).
Friday, Jan. 16, 2009
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