Many students and others using Pattee and Paterno Libraries are asking, “Where’s the trash can?” The University Libraries are the most recent participants of a campus-wide sustainability initiative aimed at recycling and waste management. Dubbed “Mobius,” Penn State’s waste system has no beginning and no end, according to the Sustainability website.

Penn State is committed to closing the loop on waste because:
• Solid waste isn’t a stream that starts in one place and ends in another.
• It’s a loop of valuable resources.

Change is challenging but with everyone’s effort, the initiative will succeed. Penn State currently diverts 65 percent of its solid waste from landfill. With campus-wide composting, the goal will be 75 percent. Miscellaneous plastics will take the goal to 85 percent.

Dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications Barbara Dewey notes, “For the sake of the environment and the welfare of future generations, I’m willing to use the bins on the fifth floor of Paterno Library or those that are centrally located at entrances to Pattee and Paterno to properly dispose of waste.”

Additional recycling stations on every floor of Pattee and Paterno Libraries will help Penn Staters reduce waste. We can do it with your help.

For more information, please call Public Relations and Marketing at 814-863-4240.