Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of year again: RECYCLEMANIA!!! 

For those of you new to campus or BCC’s green initiatives, Recyclemania is an annual contest at colleges and universities across the country.  This friendly competition helps to promote waste reduction activities and monitors our progress as we move toward our zero waste goal at BCC.  Over the course of 8 weeks, we will be tracking our trash, recycling, and compost.

Last year, BCC performed exceptionally well, finishing up with a 70.6% recycling rate.  We ranked 8th out of 232 institutions and placed 1st in the state. That’s very impressive!  Let’s aim higher in 2016!

Ready to reduce and recycle?  Follow these easy guidelines!   Have a question?  Contact a Green Team member; we are happy to help!

Welcome back to campus, BCC!  The Green Team hopes you had a terrific winter break!  We are excited to share some updates with you and the college community.

Updates:

• The cafe now has compostable hot beverage lids!  Thanks to Kevin Kennedy for his dedication to reducing our waste stream!  Check out his display in the cafeteria that highlights all of the compostable utensils and containers.  In the meantime, here are some photos as a friendly reminder of what can go into the green compost bins across campus:

• The Green Team will be partnering with MassPIRG, League of Women Voters of Williamstown, and the Service-Learning department to host two voter registration drives.  Stop by to register to vote, ask us some questions, or just say hi!  If you are a Massachusetts resident with an RMV-issued ID, you can now register online!  It only takes a few minutes!  Remember, YOUR VOTE = YOUR VOICE
  • Tuesday, February 2nd, from 11am to 1pm, Cafeteria
  • Tuesday, February 9th, from 11am to 1pm, Cafeteria
• Subscribe to our blog for regular updates, information, and tips on greening your office and life
• COMING SOON: RECYCLEMANIA!

Thanks to a collaboration with MassSave, the BCC Green Team will be hosting a FREE LED light bulb exchange this week.  Our goal is to help people to save money and energy while reducing consumption and carbon emissions.

We will be accepting old bulbs from students, faculty, and staff in exchange for a shiny new LED (Light Emitting Diode) bulb.  They have a 20+ year lifetime!  As there are limited supplies, we are asking participants to initially limit themselves to one exchange.  If there are LED bulbs remaining toward the end of the program, the Green Team will open it up for “seconds.”  These bulbs can be used at work, at school, or at home!

Exchange Dates and Locations:

Tuesday, November 17: 11am-1pm in BCC cafeteria

Wednesday, November 18: 11am-1pm in BCC cafeteria; 4pm-6pm in F208

Thursday, November 19: 11am-1pm in BCC cafeteria; 4pm-6pm in F208

If you cannot make it to one of these exchanges, please contact Charlie Kaminski (ext. 2105) to make other arrangements.  Please click here for additional information on MassSave and the bulb exchange.

With great excitement and anticipation, BCC is excited to announce the inaugural Berkshire Natural History Conference!  This conference will feature local and regional naturalists, acclaimed authors, special exhibits, a book sale, and a raffle.  Admission includes brunch and access to all presentations.

What: Berkshire Natural History Conference

When: Sunday, November 8th from 9am-4pm

Cost: $20 general admission/$10 student admission (Preregistration required)

Where: The Berkshire School, Sheffield

Sponsors: Berkshire Community College, The Berkshire School, Green Berkshires, MCLA, Orion Magazine, Berkshire Environmental Action Team, and the Hoffman Bird Club.

You know what is scarier than Halloween?  Hazardous household waste!  I guess it’s a good thing that our friends at the Center for EcoTechnology are hosting a household hazardous waste collection on Saturday, October 31st, from 9am to 1pm.  Located at Pittsfield Highway on 81 Hawthorne Ave, this collection is open to all Pittsfield residents.

Here is a partial list of acceptable and unacceptable materials (for a complete list, please check out the CET’s events page):

• Insect sprays
• Moth balls
• Flea control products
• Oil-based paints (NO LATEX)
• Paint strippers/thinners
• Rubber cement
• Drain and toilet cleaner
• Button batteries
• Antifreeze
• Brake & transmission fluids
• And much, much more!

Please DO NOT BRING:

• Medical waster
• Construction debris
• Smoke detectors
• Alkaline batteries

For a more information, please click here.  Questions?  Please contact Jamie at 413-445-4556, ext. 14 or email for more information.

This month, the Green Team blog will focus on food waste and easy steps you can take to reduce your own foodprint.

Do you know how much food in the US is never eaten?  Do you know how much it costs financially and environmentally?  If you don’t, you are not alone.  According to a new study from the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, three-quarters of Americans don’t realize how much food enters the waste stream and believe they waste less food than the national average.

Here are the numbers across the supply chain for the US:

• 40% of food is wasted which is more than 20 pounds of food per person every month
• For a household of four, food waste accounts for $1365-$2275 annual losses
• 10% of the energy budget goes to getting food on our tables
• 50% of land is used for food production
• Rotting food in landfills accounts for 16-25% of methane emissions (methane is a powerful greenhouse gas)
• Since the 1970s, food waste has increased by about 50%

What do these numbers mean?  I’ll give it to you straight: Americans are wasting the equivalent of $165 BILLION (yes, DOLLARS!) and 150 TRILLION CALORIES EACH YEAR.  With the amount of food wasted in the US each year, 2 billion people could be fed for a year.

Are you surprised by these numbers?  Would you like to do something about it?  Reducing your foodprint is easy and makes a huge and immediate impact.   Here are some quick and easy steps to save money and the environment:

1. Shop wisely — meal planning, using shopping lists, and buying only what you’ll need (bulk bins are great for this!)
2. Freeze unused ingredients — leftovers and most produce freezes beautifully
3. Buy funny fruits and vegetables
4. Donate your unwanted or unused non-perishable foods to food pantries in your area

Resources:

You’re Wasting More Food Than You Think; Mother Jones

Wasted Food: U.S. Consumers’ Reported Awareness, Attitudes, and Behaviors; PLOS One

The Environmental Impact of Wasted Food; Fast Company & Inc.

Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill; NRDC Issue Paper

This Year’s 12 Greatest Strides Towards Reducing Food Waste; NRDC

Think.Eat.Save

How to Freeze and Store Food; Cook Smarts

Wow, it’s already September…how did that happen?!  It’s a good thing that the BCC Green Team is ready for the new semester!  As we enter a new academic year, we’d like to share some of our successes and challenges with you.

Successes:

• We have a new logo!  And be on the lookout for our very own BCC Green Team Stamp of Approval!  If you see either of these logos on table tents, posters, or announcements, you will know that it is in line with the mission and goals of the Green Team.
• Have you tried out one of the three shiny new water fountains on campus?  Located in Field and SBA, these water fountains provide filtered water and a bottle refilling port.  More coming soon to campus!
• Since 2009, we have reduced our trash by 40%!!  That’s huge!  Your efforts are making a huge difference!
• In 2015, we are composting over 2700 pounds of waste every week.  That’s 2700 pounds of compostable waste that’s staying out of our already-crowded landfills.
• Thanks to the gallant efforts of Kevin Kennedy and Katie Hickey, almost all of the containers and utensils are compostable!  And that includes the green straws!
• For an easy-to-follow and detailed list of what can be recycled and composted, please check out our very own Recycling/Composting page.
• BCC ranked 8th in the nation for RecycleMania with a recycling rate of 70.6%!!  We ranked higher than any other school in Massachusetts!  GO BCC!!!

Challenges:

• Even with our terrific recycling and composting numbers, 21% of our waste (by weight) is from paper towels and napkins.  Both are compostable and the Green Team will be looking into providing more composting opportunities.
• By volume, plastic bags represent 33% of our waste stream.
• Special events at Paterson and other locations on campus generate a lot of trash.  Do you have any ideas on how to best address this situation?
• As of 2014, the small appliances in offices (refrigerators, coffee makers, etc.) generated 4 metric tons of CO2.  Would you be willing to have a conversation with the Green Team about reducing our campus’ carbon footprint?

If you have any ideas for greening the campus or would like to get involved, we’d love to hear your ideas!  Please join us or contact Charlie Kaminski at ckaminsk@berkshirecc.edu

Looking for something different to do before the summer is over?  Try a river cleanup with Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) and the Housatonic Valley Association (HVA)!  Meet some great people and do some good in your community; you’d be amazed at what (and how much!) gets pulled out of this one river.  Some of past few year’s highlights include a vacuum cleaner, couch, outdoor grill, olde timey shoes, and a mattress.

What: Housatonic River Cleanup

When: Saturday, August 8th from 9am to 1pm

Where: Meet at Fred Garner Park, Pomeroy Ave, Pittsfield

Gloves and trash bags are provided.  Please wear old clothes and sneakers or boots.  No sandals please!  Lunch will also be provided!  Woo!  Lunch!

To register, please call 413.394.9796 or email adixon@hvatoday.org

Even though it is snowing at the present moment, spring is here!  And with spring comes the annual BCC CAMPUS GREEN UP!!  [cue raucous cheering]  Please join us on Monday, April 27th!  Save the date and dig out your old clothes because there’s plenty of work to be done!  [cue slightly less raucous cheering]

Most of this year’s activities will be the same as previous years, but if you have an idea of something that might fit well with the spirit of the day, please let us know and we can add it to the day’s activities.  Should we experience inclement weather, our rain/snow date is Friday, May 1st.  Sign-ups and details to follow in the next few weeks.   Morning and afternoon shifts will be available.

Questions?  Please contact Charlie Kaminski.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  Stay Green…

More good news from the national Recyclemania competition:  After five weeks, in addition to being 10^th in the nation right now, BCC is #1 in the state of Massachusetts.  Look who we’re up against in our state –>