Montgomery County Community College In RecycleMania, Reduces Carbon Footprint

For the second year, Montgomery County Community College is participating in RecycleMania, a10-week nationwide contest during which colleges and universities compete to see who can reduce, reuse and recycle the most campus waste.

 

Each week the College's facilities team collects and weighs recyclable materials, including paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum and plastics #1 and 2, and enters the totals into the RecycleMania database.

 

Last year, MCCC took eighth place in the country in the category of waste minimization, meaning it had a favorable ratio between the amount of waste generated versus the amount of recycling collected.

In 2008, 200 participating college and universities helped prevent more than 24,000 metric tons of carbon equivalent from entering the atmosphere. This year, a record-high 510 institutions will compete in

 

RecycleMania, representing 4.7 million students and 1.1 million faculty and staff from every state in the country as well as from Washington D.C., Canada and India.

 

The RecycleMania competition is administered by the National Recycling Coalition, with program development and planning by a steering committee made up of collegiate recycling managers from participatinguniversities.

 

The competition is managed in conjunction with NRC's College and University Recycling Council (CURC) and is made possible with sponsorship support from The Coca-Cola Company and the U.S.

Environmental Agency's WasteWise program.

 

Since signing the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment in 2007, Montgomery County Community College has taken numerous steps toward reducing its carbon footprint.

 

Some bestpractices include purchasing 15 percent of its electricity from wind power; providing hybrid and electric vehicles and bicycles for public safety officers; expanding its recycling program; using post-consumer paper and duplex printers for copying; and working with SEPTA to modify the bus route at the Central Campus in Blue Bell to save 20,000 miles of travel annually.

 

The College also educates students and community about sustainability through a faculty-driven lecture series on climate change.

 

For more information, visit the Sustainability at the College webpage.