MCC Sustainability Efforts for May 2013

I.    Did You Know?  McLennan Community College has been a member of the American College and University Climate Commitment since 2007. The college conducts annual greenhouse gas reports, has created a campus carbon neutral plan, and has an active sustainability committee that guides campus sustainable activities.

II.    Sustainability Activities on Campus this Spring: 
a.    RecycleMania Results:  The total amount recycled during the eight weeks of RecycleMania this year was 19,499 lbs. (that's 2.13 lbs. per person at MCC).  According to the EPA's Waste Reduction Model, that is the equivalent of 24 metric tons of CO2, or the amount of energy used by 5 cars or in 2 households during that timeframe.

We're down slightly from last year's total of 21,240 lbs., but that could be due to an overall reduction in consumption. We will begin monitoring our trash production in addition to our recycling efforts next year as we enter the "Competition" division of RecycleMania.  This will allow us to calculate our percentage of waste recycled and will give us a more complete picture of our campus behaviors.

Compared to other 2-year colleges in the Benchmark Division of RecycleMania, MCC ranks 4th in per capita recycling! To review overall results, go to http://recyclemaniacs.org/scoreboard/current-results/benchmark-division

b.    Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Day on Saturday, May 18 from 8 AM to 1 PM:  The City of Waco is holding its annual HHW day on May 18 at the City of Waco Solid Waste Services Collection on 501 Schroeder Dr.  The service is open to Waco, Woodway, Hewitt, Lacy Lakeview and Lorena citizens.  This year the city will also collect electronic equipment.
Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Day flyer

c.    “Green” Computing Tips:  Help us conserve our computer resources. Please shut down office and lab computers, monitors, and printers on weekends and overnight to save energy and to reduce vulnerability to hackers and other malicious activities. For daily energy savings, consider turning off the monitor when not using your PC for more than 20 minutes and turning off both CPU and monitor if not using them for more than 2 hours.  If you will not be on campus this summer, please shut down your computer and other office electronics until fall for further energy savings. Lastly, instructors, please conserve energy and extend equipment life by shutting down the document camera and projector in your classroom before you leave.

III.    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.  It takes the entire College to make sustainability work!

The MCC Sustainability Committee