by Nicole Schwindenhammer for the University Libraries Green Team

March is a green month! St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and spring will eventually arrive, bringing flower blooms and tree buds. We are entering the perfect season to become motivated again, if we aren’t already, by doing our part for our planet and being the best recyclers we can be! Here are a few helpful tips on recycling at Penn State:

• A reusable water bottle is encouraged, but if you are drinking from a plastic bottle, make sure that the bottle is completely empty before placing it in the appropriate recycling bin. The added weight of any remaining liquid contributes to the cost of recycling, not to mention that the leftover liquid creates a big mess for the recycling crew when they are processing recyclables.
• The hot coffee cups from cafés are unfortunately not recyclable. The cups are a mixed material made of both paper and plastic and at this time can not be recycled. In order to reduce waste, a reusable travel mug is a great idea.
• There’s good and bad with yogurt containers. The good is that the plastic container itself is recyclable —you just want to make sure you rinse it out when you are done eating the yogurt. For University Park locations, this container would go in the “miscellaneous plastics” bin. Unfortunately, the foil lid on the yogurt container is not recyclable. The lids are made of a layer of aluminum foil, coated with plastic, so it falls in that mixed-material category and therefore goes into the landfill bin.

The staff and faculty at Penn State who regularly reduce, reuse and recycle are not only contributing to the good of the environment, but they can also elaborate what they have done in their yearly evaluations at You@PSU. The University prides itself in recycling and sustainability and is committed to doing its part. You can learn more about Penn State’s sustainability mission and how you can help by visiting sustainability.psu.edu.

So now that we’re a little more aware of what can and can’t be recycled, let’s go out there and do our part. Let’s be motivated about recycling and motivate others as well, so that we can all make this month of March even greener!