MCC Sustainability Notes February 2012

Did You Know? McLennan Community College has joined more than 430 other colleges in the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) to support the Sustainability Education & Economic Development (SEED) initiative. This initiative advances sustainable practices at community colleges by sharing innovative green economic models and resources among college students, faculty, staff, and administrators.

I. Sustainability Activities for Spring 2012:
a. MCC received Tree Campus USA designation in 2011. Of the six universities and colleges in Texas to earn this distinction, MCC is one of just two community colleges so recognized. The other schools are Tarrant County Community College, University of North Texas, Dallas Baptist College, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas-Austin.
b. RecycleMania is a friendly 10-week competition among colleges and universities across the nation, with rankings based on recyclables per capita, total recyclables, and the least trash per capita per campus population. MCC is competing in the Benchmark Category, and we are taking our college to the next competition level in terms of weights for glass, plastic, cardboard, paper, and food waste, along with total single-stream recycling, MCC’s primary mode. Last year, we recycled 34,023 pounds of material in 10 weeks! MCC wants to exceed that number by 10% this year. We can do it with your help! Here’s the website to the competition overview: http://www.recyclemaniacs.org/.
c. Next Campus Shred and Recycle Day will be March 30th, 8 am – 1 pm. All materials gathered will count for RecycleMania. Please bring all recyclable materials to the main MAC parking lot where we hosted the last two MCC Shred and Recycle Days. More information to follow.
d. Arbor day Celebration has been set for March 29, 2012. The event will honor Bob Ford’s 45 years of service as a chemistry teacher with a tree planting. We will also celebrate MCC’s being named Tree Campus USA. The Arbor Day ceremony will be at 2:30-3:00 PM followed by a campus tree tour from 3:00-4:00 PM. Details to follow.
e. Recycling Containers in All MCC Buildings: The physical plant will place single stream recycling containers in the hallways of all MCC buildings with signage indicating what is considered appropriate for recycling. The goal is to have all placed by April.

II. What are your thoughts on our sustainability efforts? Check out our website at http://www.mclennan.edu/gogreen/ and our blog at http://mccgogreen.blogspot.com/.

Thanks for your support. Remember, it takes the entire College to make sustainability work!

The MCC Sustainability Committee