The latest tips from the Green Committee deal with recycling:
Category: Recycling
1. CD ROM/DVD and cases are thrown in this recycle bin.
– What is Miscellaneous Plastic?
2. Pencil shavings go in this receptacle.
– What is Compost?
Category Archives: Green Tips
Campus-wide sustainability program modeled after Green Committee’s game
The Libraries’ Green Committee and its successful Recycling Sorting Station game developed for this fall’s Open House at University Park so impressed members of Penn State’s Sustainability Institute that they have developed two versions of it for ongoing campus-wide educational initiatives.
Jennifer Funk, Interlibrary Loan information resources and services support specialist and Green Committee member, suggested the idea of a sorting station as a way to involve the Green Committee in Open House activities, and to help educate a new cohort of students and other new patrons about recycling and composting best practices. The Sorting Station stop on the Open House tour gave the committee an opportunity to illustrate both proper sorting and its impact.
Linda Struble, information resources and services supervisor-manager at Penn State’s Engineering Library and a member of the Libraries’ Green Committee, volunteered at the Sorting Station. “The students really seemed to enjoy it. And because Penn State’s Sustainability Institute also provided us with examples of products made from recycled materials, like fleece clothing and carpeting, it helped demonstrated the value of proper recycling,” she said.
Linda Struble, a member of the University Libraries’ Green Committee, answers students’ recycling and composting questions during the Libraries’ Open House. The committee’s sorting station game offered a fun way to educate new students, faculty and staff about Penn State’s commitment to sustainability.
Committee members used baskets that patrons use for carrying books as “recycling bins” for the game, and as luck would have it, an older green basket was available to stand in as the game’s compost bin. Members also printed sheets of recycling signage similar to those on the Libraries’ recycling bins, and posters listing five actions individuals can take to reduce their waste.
They borrowed the Sustainability Institute’s bag of clean recyclables available for such programs and collected other oddball recycling items to challenge players. The Institute also provided an “answer key” indicating where each item should be placed correctly in the waste stream.
“We made sure to insert humor into the game,” Struble added. “For instance, multiple participants feigned surprise when they discovered a rubber chicken in the compostable bin, representing a real chicken, bones and all, that are compostable.”
Lydia Vandenbergh, the Sustainability Institute’s associate director of employee engagement and education, and other Sustainability Institute members volunteered for shifts at the sorting station along with Green Committee members. After they saw the sorting station game’s success, Sustainability Institute members decided to use the same concept to create a traveling educational show, tentatively called the Recycling and Composting Roadshow.
Two versions of the Roadshow were developed — one for high student-traffic areas, including on-campus dining halls, the HUB-Robeson Center, and the University Libraries, and the other for more general-traffic campus audiences including classroom buildings.
Karen Serago, academic adviser at the Smeal College of Business, and Dan Cahoy, professor of business law and a member of the college’s sustainability board, learned about the recycling and composting roadshow from Penn State student Kaitlynn Hamaty, an intern at the Sustainability Institute.
The Roadshow already is in use, and Sustainability Institute members have demonstrated it to Green Team representatives across the University Park campus and offered it for future educational programs. The committee’s idea also will be featured in the Sustainability Institute’s e-newsletter.
Congratulations to the Green Committee, whose ingenuity has inspired a new level of sustainability education at University Park.
Green Committee update
The Green Committee’s listserv has changed to ul-green@lists.psu.edu. Please send your recycling questions to this new email, thank you!
Green Tips
Q: How can I participate in the Libraries Adopt-a-Highway program?
A: You’re in luck! Volunteers (family and friends are welcome) will be meeting this Saturday, August 1, to pick up trash and make our little stretch of Buffalo Run Road look gorgeous again. Contact Paige Andrew, pga2@psu.edu, for information on when and where to meet.
Q: After we’ve typed labels, where should we recycle the empty label sheet?
A: These go in Mixed Paper and Newspaper or Mixed Office Paper depending on which of these two bins your area has.
Green Tips
Green Tips
Q: I’d like to know if I can recycle receipts in the mixed paper bins. Also, the wax paper that my prescriptions come in cvs, is that recyclable in the mixed paper?
A: Library receipts should go in the Blue Bag since they may have personal information on them. There are Blue Bags in several of the departments.
CVS bags would be recycled at home since they are not Penn State or work related generated waste.
Thanks for the question.
Sincerely,
the UL Green Committee
Green Tips: Answers to your recycling questions
Green Tips
Q: I have a question about candy wrappers, potato chip packages, and other such materials. Do they go into the “plastic bottles and film,” “miscellaneous plastics,” or trash containers? The webpage says there is a container for food wrappers in the 126 Breakroom, however there is presently only a compost container in this location.
Thanks for any info you can pass on.
A: Typically, if there is not a specific container for them, they should go in the trash. Penn State cannot recycle cellophane or the quasi-foil wrappers that many candy bars and chips come in. In addition, TerraCycle no longer has a candy wrapper brigade. However, there are still brigades for snack bags and energy/granola bar wrappers.
If you are at University Park, these items can be collected and sent to the HUB Green Team. See the TerraCycle web page on the Sustainability Institute’s web pages for more information and where to send these hard to recycle items. If you are at a campus, and are aware of Terracycle brigades collecting these items, let us know. We’ll get our web page updated soon.
Correction: The HUB Green Team is not currently accepting snack bags. They are on the waiting list for TerraCycle’s new snack bag brigade and will resume collecting these items if/when they get on the new brigade. They are still accepting energy bar wrappers.
Q: There are some noxious weeds ending up in the State College Borough’s compost bins, along with general yard waste from the big Spring Clean-ups going on.
I’m leery about purchasing compost from the Borough because of this.
So my question is:
Is the temperature compost pile reaches high enough to kill these noxious weed seeds? or will they just end up getting planted along with the compost?
— Anonymous
A: The temperature in the compost piles reaches high enough to kill off any weed seeds which are in the pile but not high enough to kill any beneficial microbes.
Answer submitted by Ryan McCaughey, Manager, Grounds & Equipment, Office of Physical Plant; and UL GreenCommittee member
Sincerely,
the UL Green Committee
Have a recycling question?
Have a recycling question?
You are not alone. The UL Green Committee gets a fair number of recycling questions. Many are repeat questions. In order to share the information with you, the Green Committee has set up Green Tips.
Submit your recycling questions to the Green Committee at (ul-green-committee@lists.psu.edu) and we will:
1. Send out the question and answer to ul-ulibs with the subject: Green Tips
2. Compile Green Tips questions and answers and post them in the Library News blog
3. Post questions and answers on the Green Committee’s webpages,http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/greenteam.html, and social media
Sincerely,
the UL Green Committee
Upcoming Green Paws orientation
By Cathy O’Connell for the University Libraries Green Team
Office Composting has not quite begun in Patee/Paterno, but if you are anxious to become a little greener in your office and use your resources more efficiently, you can earn your Green Paws Office Certification while you wait. This program is designed so that offices with 75% participation can complete a checklist to earn certification at multiple levels. The staff at the Annex have already earned their Level 1 certification, and you can, too! Sign up for the next orientation session, below:
Thursday, June 12: Stepping into Green Paws Orientation: 1p.m. – 2p.m. in 214 Business Building. Be sure to register or join the conversation via Adobe Connect!
Get started now!
Office composting is everywhere
Office Composting in Pattee/Paterno
Every building
Everywhere
Everyone
You may have noticed the new recycling stations that have recently appeared in Pattee and Paterno. This marks the beginning of the change to Office Composting (formerly No Can Do) in our buildings. Over the next few weeks, you will see announcements and more information abut this change. Al Matyasovsky gave a presentation last week in Foster Auditorium, providing an overview of the program. If you missed it, you can view the presentation online at bit.ly/1gioDhB.
Stump Al!
There are still spots available for the Discovery Day session, “Stump Al”. Join us during lunch, from 11:45 AM to 12:45 PM to learn the newest recycling guidelines. Feel free to bring your toughest recyclables and questions! Sign up in TechSmart, at http://bit.ly/1hadhgm.
Battery recycling now accessible to library patrons
In addition to the battery recycling buckets in the Libraries Human Resources office and the Sidewater Commons staff office, there are now two located in public areas. Buckets have been placed in News and Microforms and on the second floor of West Pattee, both on top of the recycling containers. A complete list of recycling locations for various products is now available on the Green Team’s website, at http://bit.ly/1cRzGkO. — Cathy O’Connell
Green Committee seeks new members
Submitted by Cathy O’Connell on behalf of the Green Team
Have an interest in sustainability, conservation, and preserving our environment? The Green Committee could use your help! The Penn State University Libraries Green Team was created to provide leadership for “green” initiatives and to promote environmental sustainability in the University Libraries. Recent initiatives include recycling efforts (adding plastics, Terracycle, and soon composting), reducing waste at University Libraries events, offering green options for supplies orders, and outreach efforts to Libraries departments and other University green committees and groups. Our committee meets once a month and welcomes employees from all locations. If you are interested in joining us and assisting with our efforts, please email us at ul-green-committee@lists.psu.edu.
Library Clean Up Day is tomorrow!
Library Clean Up Day will take place tomorrow, August 20, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., in Mann Assembly Room. Items may be brought down throughout the day. Feel free to drop and shop!
Ever consider donating scrap paper? Any scraps without sensitive information are welcome. One man’s trash is another’s treasure! While you’re at it, why not clean up your virtual space by deleting old files! As the libraries move towards a greener tomorrow, use this opportunity to clean out and recycle unwanted items. Participation in the cleanup is voluntary, but encouraged. Nearly all remaining items at the end of the day will be reused or recycled by university salvage.
Please contact Megan Folmar at M.Folmar@psu.edu with any questions.
Cleanup Day is coming
Submitted by Megan Folmar
Library Cleanup Day is right around the corner! The event will take place on August 20, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., in Mann Assembly Room. Items may be brought down throughout the day. Feel free to drop and shop! Branch libraries may send their materials up to two week in advance by contacting Verne Neff at van1@psu.edu and Earl Houser at ejh10@psu.edu .
Ever consider donating scrap paper? Any scraps without sensitive information are welcome. One man’s trash is another’s treasure! While you’re at it, why not clean up your virtual space by deleting old files! As the libraries move towards a greener tomorrow, use this opportunity to clean out and recycle unwanted items. Participation in the cleanup is voluntary, but encouraged. Nearly all remaining items at the end of the day will be reused or recycled by university salvage.
Please contact Megan Folmar at M.Folmar@psu.edu with any questions.
Library Clean-Up Day: Mark your calendars and start collecting!
Submitted by Cathy O’Connell
Library Clean-Up Day has been scheduled for August 20, so mark your calendars! Take some time in the quieter summer months to look around your office and start collecting unused items to donate to Clean-Up Day. Start your gathering early and make your space cleaner and greener.
If you have things you’d like to get rid of before Clean-Up Day, you can post items Libraries’ Green Exchange, a Free-cycle type exchange for workplace items that are no longer used.
Terracycle: Another way to recycle
Submitted by Verne Neff and Cathy O’Connell
Last month, the Annex began their last step of having a zero waste area when Jeffery Marker volunteered to coordinate Terracycle recycling through existing campus Terracycle efforts.
What is Terracycle?
Terracycle is a company with a goal of eliminating waste. It collects hard to recycle items from people, such as granola bar and candy wrappers, and recycles those items into useful products. Many areas around the University Park campus participate in Terracycle “Brigades” that collect specific items for recycling. You can learn more about the company at www.terracycle.com.
How does Terracycle work?
Some Penn State Green Teams have signed up to collect certain materials, such as chip bags, yogurt containers, etc. You can either contact Terracycle and apply for your own brigade, or you can collect items for the Green Teams that have already been awarded brigades. A list of the participating Green Teams and their contact information can be found at http://sustainability.psu.edu/terracycle. Terracycle pays for the shipping and also makes a donation for each brigade collection submitted, funding a variety of needs such as Educational Equity scholarships, Thon, United Way and international clean water projects.
Bike to Work Day Friday, May 17!
Submitted by Cathy O’Connell for the Green Team
May 17 is bike to work day! Bicycling is a clean, fun and healthy way to get to work. Join the crusade for a happier, healthier, greener community and ride to work! The Centre Region Bicycle Coalition has a list of local cyclists who will help you figure out the best route for you to commute in to work.
These Bike-to-Work Mentors are listed at http://centrebike.org.
Start thinking about Library Clean-Up Day now!
Submitted by Cathy O’Connell for the Green Team
Library Clean-Up Day isn’t until August, but it’s never too soon to start thinking about it. As the spring semester ends, take the time to look around your office and start collecting unused items to donate to Clean-Up Day. Don’t forget your electronic files as well! The official date is still to be determined, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a head start. Start your gathering early and make your space cleaner and greener.
If you have things you’d like to get rid of before Clean-Up Day, you can post items Libraries’ Green Exchange, a free-cycle type exchange for workplace items that are no longer used.
Green Matters: Chicken scratch, or the paper cycle at Thun Library
Submitted by Barb Lessig, Penn State Berks
For years we’ve attempted to use both sides of our paper, reuse it for scrap and make it sure it gets into the recycle bins or shredders after we’ve utilized the final fragments. As of the summer of 2011, however, we’ve been able to extend the paper life cycle at the Thun Library and make hay for some very appreciative chickens.