Through four weeks of competition, we’re still doing great nationally - #13 with a 59% recycling rate. In the state of Massachusetts we are ranked #2 (congratulations to the Massachusetts Maritime Academy with an 80% recycling rate!), and we are ahead of a lot of great Massachusetts schools (Harvard, Tufts, Brandeis, MIT, Amherst, Bunker Hill Community College, and Boston College, among others). And among two-year schools in the nation, we are currently #4. Congratulations everyone, and remember, everything that makes it to the right bin between now and March 29 helps us meet our goals.
BCC #12 in the Nation
As expected, the document shredding / recycling by the Business Office last week really gave a boost to our recycling rate. (And yes, I did check with the RecycleMania “brass” first to make sure we could count that). We currently have a recycling rate of 63% and have jumped to #12 nationwide! Of course our final position will almost certainly be lower than that, since we don’t shred 5,000 pounds of documents every week (!) But, our chances of finishing in the Top 20, with more than a 55% recycling rate, are looking good. See official Week 3 results here:
http://recyclemaniacs.org/scoreboard/current-results/competition-division
RecycleMania Week 2
We’re still in the Top 20 nationally! Though in Week 2 our recycling rate slipped a bit, look for a big jump in Week 3 due to a massive paper-shredding by our Business Office (thank you Mitch and Bill for sharing those numbers!). If you have comments, suggestions, or “inspirational recycling stories” (!) please let us know.
If you want to see how BCC stacks up against other schools, here are the official Week 2 Results from RecycleMania:
First Week of RecycleMania!
The results are in for the first official week of RecycleMania – and BCC is currently #18 in the nation, out of 215 colleges and universities. Our recycling rate is 54% (on our path to Zero Waste, our goal for this year is to reach a 55% recycling rate – every single item which gets reused, or finds its way to the right bin, will help us reach our goal). Congratulations BCC, and keep it up! See complete results for Week 1 here:
http://recyclemaniacs.org/scoreboard/current-results/competition-division
Spring 2012 Welcome Back
Welcome back to the Berkshire Community College Green Team blog. On this site, you will find information about Green Team sponsored and other campus events related to the environment. Also, you will find resources for you on strategies, tips, and practices that are green.The Green Team is comprised of a group of committed faculty, staff, students and community members committed to raising campus and community awareness issues related to the environment and sustainability.
One most important effort being undertaken this spring is the launch of a new Zero Waste plan for BCC. The goal for the plan is for the campus to work, through the year 2020, towards generating zero waste that will go into the landfill. To find out more about this effort, click on the “Zero Waste” tab above.
Through February 3rd, BCC is partnering with Crosby Elementary School and the Pittsfield Public Schools on a Green fundraiser for the school. They will be selling, through Western Massachusetts Electric, selected high-efficiency or energy-saving home electrical supplies. For a list of the supplies for sale, click here to see the items for sale. For more information on this fundraising event as well as BCC’s Service Learning Program, follow this link: http://blogs.berkshirecc.edu/servicelearning/
