Wednesday, February 5, 2014

MCC Sustainability Efforts for February 2014

MCC Sustainability Efforts for February 2014

I.    Did You Know?  There are various parking spots in lots H and B, and at the ESEC reserved for Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFV) and High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV).  AFV vehicles include hybrids like Toyota’s Prius while HOV are for vehicles with more than one passenger commuting to and from campus. The Sustainability Committee asks you to encourage your peers and pupils to respect the college's efforts in providing priority parking for our energy efficient commuters with the same respect given to the designated motorcycle and handicapped areas. 

II.    Sustainability Activities on Campus this Spring: 
a.    Recycle Mania begins on February 1st. MCC will once again participate in RecycleMania–an eight week competition to promote recycling on campus.  While we've participated in RecycleMania since 2009, this will be our first year in the Competition Division.  We will compete against other universities and colleges across the U.S. and Canada in the Gorilla Prize (overall tonnage recycled) and the Per Capita Classic.  We record how much we recycle weekly from Feb. 2-March 29. For more on RecycleMania, visit http://recyclemaniacs.org/

How can you get involved? Use the recycling containers on campus! We have blue recycling containers in common areas and select classrooms throughout campus.  Some buildings have dedicated recycling stations (ex. Science Building, 1st floor).  If your building or floor does not have recycling bins, contact the Physical Plant at 299-8843.  The large yellow dumpsters across campus (ex. LTC, MAC, etc.) are designated for recyclables as well.  The MCC Library has also put together a “Green” display, highlighting books on being “green”, sustainability and recycling, as well as displaying the many types of materials suitable for recycling. 

What can you recycle? MCC students, faculty, and staff can recycle paper, plastic, aluminum cans, and cardboard in any of the designated receptacles.

b.    Campus Conservation Nationals (CCN): This is MCC's first year competing in the Campus Conservation Nationals.  CCN is the largest electricity and water reduction competition for colleges
and universities in the world.  CCN strives to engage and motivate people to conserve resources. During CCN selected buildings will monitor their electricity consumption for three weeks. 
The building with the greatest reduction in consumption wins! We will announce which buildings have been selected and the competition dates the week prior to Spring Break.  For more on CCN,
visit http://competetoreduce.org.

Our participation in RecycleMania and CCN is part of MCC's goal to foster a culture of conservation on our campus while highlighting sustainable behaviors and social responsibility.
 Please participate and help us encourage others to do so as well.

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/Check out our new Facebook site at: https://www.facebook.com/SustainabilityMCC 

Thanks for your support.  It takes the entire College to make sustainability work!

The MCC Sustainability Committee