Keep Waco Beautiful Compost and Mulch Sale, Saturday, November 6, 2010

Shred Day is Friday, November 5, 2010!

MCC’s Sustainability Committee invites you to participate in the bi-annual shred day which is this Friday. Each year, we will have two separate campus-wide shred day events. The goal of this event is to help serve employees by allowing a safe and secure way to purge or remove sensitive paper documents while helping to protect the environment at the same time. Paper makes up over 37% of the Waco Landfill’s waste profile and MCC is committed to sustainable practices to help extend the life of our landfill. Please join MCC on Friday to help preserve our environment!

• When do I go? Friday, November 5th from 9:00 am – 11:00 am

• Where do I go? Open area behind the MAC building (look for the Certishred Truck)

• What can I bring? Any paper goods including sensitive files such as grades, tests, or other materials you need destroyed. You are not required to remove staples. Just bring your paper goods and Certishred will take care of the rest!

• What if I can’t make it? If you have class or meetings during the event or if you need physical assistance handling your paper goods, contact Sid Ross directly at 299-8849 by 2 pm this Wednesday and he will arrange for a physical plant employee to come to your building prior to the event.

• Off-site Facilities: Contact Sid Ross directly at 299-8849 by 2 pm this Wednesday and he will arrange for a physical plant employee to come to your building to pick up your materials prior to the event.

The next Shred Day scheduled for April 1, 2011.

MCC Sustainability Efforts This Month

I. Did you know? The Emergency Services Education Center has a rainwater harvest system that captures rainwater from the building roof and stores it in a 60,000 gallon underground cistern. This water is piped to the building restrooms and is used for flushing toilets and urinals. This system contributes to the 50% water reduction this building accomplished and helped score a LEED innovative credit point in the quest for a platinum certification for the building.

II. Sustainability Activities on Campus this Fall:

a. Bikes for Rent: MCC “blue cruisers” are available for faculty, staff and students for the whole spring semester for a refundable $10. This deposit includes a helmet, lock, and an MCC Cycles t-shirt. Contact Debbie Ballew in MCC Student Activities at 299-8443 to check out a bike.

b. Fall Shred Day: Look for the next “Shred” day will be the last week in October. We will send out more information next week.



III. America Recycles Day is November 15

WHEN YOU RECYCLE	YOU SAVE
10 cans per week	Enough energy for 30 hours of TV watching per week
4 Sunday papers per month	4 trees per year
15 plastic bottles per week	Enough fiber to make 156 T-shirts per year
1 glass bottle	Enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for 4 hours, or power a computer for 30 minutes or a TV for 20 minutes

IV. Computing Tips:
Think “earth friendly” when purchasing electronics. Look for low power requirements, Energy Star certified IT products, certified eco-friendly computers with low level toxins. Discard computers and electronics with reputable electronics recyclers. There are charitable organizations that will take your discarded electronics to be refurbished and you can get a tax credit for your donation. Also, check with the manufacturer. Several manufacturers have recycle programs.

MCC is the spotlight campus in the AASHE Bulletin

MCC is the AASHE spotlight campus for the week of September 20, 2010.

AASHE spotlights the sustainability achievements of MCC on their website and weekly newsletter, the AASHE Bulletin.

This is a great opportunity to spread the word about MCC's sustainability efforts.

MCC joins AASHE

MCC recently joined the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). AASHE is an organization of colleges and universities that are working to advance sustainability in higher education. You can see MCC on AASHE’s list of campus members.

AASHE membership covers everyone on campus. As members, we all have access to AASHE’s online resources and opportunities for networking, information sharing, collaboration and professional development.

MCC Celebrates Earth Week and Arbor Day

Come join us for Earth Week this Friday—tomorrow!—and Arbor Day next week.

• Everyone’s invited this Friday, April 23, at 1pm in MAC 241.
  Participants in the Brazos Project, our first MCC professional development session, aka “Integrating Sustainability into the Curriculum,” will share their ideas for incorporating sustainability principles into a class assignment.
  
• 
  Everyone’s also invited to MCC’s second annual Arbor Day celebration next Wednesday, April 28, at 2pm outside the Faculty Office Building.
  The MCC Arbor Day tradition continues this year with a short tree-planting program that includes a brief history of Arbor Day and short readings.

Please join us as we celebrate MCC's commitment to sustainability and the environment!