Student Recycling Team

Welcome to The Student Recycling Team Website!

Current Events:

Single Stream Recycling is Here!

Rowan University is among the first colleges and universities in New Jersey to convert to single stream recycling. For a general description of this program, download the single stream flyer here.

New Computer Recycling Program Reduces Costs, Protects Environment, Helps People

Starting in January of 2009 Rowan University will be recycling its aged computers through an exciting new program called “Reconnect.” Reconnect is a unique program established through an alliance between Dell, Inc. and Goodwill Industries. Reconnect is especially interesting in that in addition to protecting the environment, it reduces costs, and builds social capital.

This program will be transparent to computer users on campus. If a department wishes to dispose of a computer, the procedure remains unchanged. The process begins with a request to the Information Resources Support Desk. Information Resources will continue to assess each piece of equipment for functionality and performance and reissue it within the Rowan community where appropriate. Equipment unfit for reuse is dismantled to retain valuable components that become part of Rowan’s computer spare parts inventory. Rowan’s Computer Recycling Program assures that any equipment or component that has value is collected and stored for reuse on campus.

The Reconnect program provides further assurance that once unuseable electronics leave campus, they will be recycled. The program also provides a cost savings to the university.

Finally, Reconnect promotes social welfare by supporting Goodwill’s mission of creating job opportunities for individuals with barriers to employment. If you would like additional information about the Reconnect program, go to: reconnectpartnership.com.

The integration of the Reconnect program into the overall university computer recycling program is the result of a collaborative effort between the departments of Facilities Resource Management and Information Resources with consultation from faculty in the College of Engineering. If you would like additional information, please contact John Imperatore, Director of Facilities Resource Management at x4657. You are also welcome to send an e-mail message to rugreen@rowan.edu.

RecycleMania is Coming!

Would you like to make a difference in recycling at Rowan? No matter what part of the Rowan community you are from, you can play a role in improving recycling on campus. RecycleMania is one way to do this.

RecycleMania is a friendly competiton for colleges and universities to promote recycling and waste reduction activities within their communities. The program is supported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWise program and the National Recycling Coalition. The program is entering its ninth year and runs for a ten-week period beginning every January.

What can you do? Please make every effort to use recycling containers to dispose of your recyclables. If you have trouble locating a container, contact us at the e-mail address below. If you would like promotional materials such as posters and flyers, let us know and we’ll supply them. If you’re not sure of what to recycle and how, let us know. Tell others too. Use the outdoor recycling stations. This winter we are adding 15 additional units (totaling 31) across campus to help boost recycling rates, protect the environment, and reduce landfill volume and costs.

If you would like more information about the Recyclemania program, go to recyclemaniacs.org. Please stay tuned for additional updates. For more information about the on-campus recycling program, please contact the Student Recycling Team at RUGreen@rowan.edu.

Green Tips for Students

From the Rowan Student Recycling Team

  1. Recycle everything you can: Think about how much paper you use in just one semester and multiply this by the number of students. From class notes to scratch paper to term papers, do your part to make sure it all gets recycled. However, paper isn’t the only thing you should be recycling. Bottles, cans, cardboard, paper, plastic bags, batteries, and electronics are all recyclable.
  2. Carry a water bottle: Instead of buying bottled water fill up your own reusable bottle and save money, energy, and natural resources.
  3. Walk or ride your bike to class: Short car rides across campus greatly increase your carbon footprint. Leave a little earlier and get some exercise by walking or riding your bike to class.
  4. Replace old light bulbs with CFL’s (Compact Flourescent Lamps): CFL’s last around 10 times longer than traditional incandescent bulbs and use one third the energy used by an incandescent bulb for the same amount of light produced.
  5. Use printers and copiers wisely: Print only what you need by highlighting what you want and choosing the “selection” printing option. When possible print both on the front and back of paper. This will cut your paper usage in half. Print and copy in double-sided mode whenever possible.
  6. Use reusable silverware and dishes: Whether in a dorm or apartment using reusable silverware and dishes instead of paper plates and plastic silverware will greatly reduce unnecessary trash.
  7. Buy recycled products: When buying your school supplies look for notebooks and paper made from recycled materials. While these products sometimes can be slightly more expensive, the price difference is often negligible.

Green Computing Workshop

As part of its highly popular guest instructor series, Information Resources Training Services offered a Green Computing session in an effort to aid in Rowan’s “go green” initiative. The session was presented on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 to a packed room of Rowan faculty, students, and staff in Memorial Hall.

Guest instructors Dr. Peter Jansson and Dr. Gina Tang, faculty of the College of Engineering, teamed up to discuss energy use and efficiency of personal computers in addition to the life-cycle of the physical equipment and electronic waste (e-waste).

Information made available during the workshop can be found by going to the following links, located on the IR Online Training Center:

Part-time Employment Opportunities for Students

Are you a student with a passion for the environment looking to earn some extra money? Please consider joining the Rowan Student Recycling Team. This group consists of three students who work as a team to create a user-friendly and effective recycling environment at Rowan. Hours range from 10 to 20 hours per week customized to suit your academic schedule. For the spring semester we have two positions available. Fore more information, contact RUGreen@Rowan.edu.

Bosshart Furniture Rescue Project

Bosshart Hall was the first building on campus dedicated to the physical sciences. A 54,000 squarefoot facility constructed in 1961, Bosshart Hall was the home of the sciences for over 40 years. Because of the age and type of construction, it was not cost effective for the University to renovate the building. A new Science building opened in 2004 to take Bosshart Hall’s place. During the summer of 2008, Bosshart was demolished to create open “green” space.

During the fall of 2007, an aggressive effort to reuse or recycle the contents of Bosshart Hall prior to demolition was initiated by the department of Resource Management. The Student Recycling Team started by cataloging all existing furniture and equipment that was in useable condition. This included desks, chairs, tables, file cabinets, white boards, screens, computers, monitors, and various other furniture and equipment. In addition, various, plumbing, lighting, fire protection, and electrical fixtures were removed and placed into the university’s spare parts inventory. Nearly 800 items were identified and inventoried for reuse or recycling status.

Through a series of open houses, the inventory was made available to university departments for on-campus use only. Once the “Reuse” furniture was removed from inventory, the second or “Recycling” part of the plan was initiated. Through the president’s office and the local district of the Department of Education, contact was made to avail local K-12 schools of the remaining furniture and equipment. Another series of open houses was conducted for the schools during the spring of 2008. Nearly a dozen schools participated and the remaining furniture and equipment was donated to the schools.

At the conclusion of the project, over 300 cubic yards of furniture and equipment was reused or recycled saving this amount of landfill space. That’s enough material to fill up over a dozen large trash trucks! This is also equivalent to approximately 34,000 pounds. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, for every ton of waste recycled instead of landfilled, 2.9 metric tons of Carbon Dioxide emissions are reduced. For this project, this equates to 49.3 metric tons of CO2. Great job Student Recycling Team!

Alpha Epsilon Phi Paves the way for Recycling Education and Awareness! On September 29, 2008 Alpha Epsilon Phi organized and sponsored an educational workshop for the students to advance recycling at Rowan. John Imperatore, Director of Resource Management and John Kuti of the Student Recycling Team presented an overview of the Rowan’s current recycling program and discussed ways students could get involved in the program. The workshop was well attended, interactive, and most of all fun! RU Green and the Student Recycling Team would like to thank Marisa Ann Linder and the great gals of Alpha Epsilon Phi for the opportunity to educate the students of Rowan University about recycling and how they can help. We look forward to working with APE and other students and groups in the future to make Rowan green. Out hats off the Alpha Epsilon Phi for their environmental leadership! See our group photo below.
 
Alpha Epsilon Phi Photo

 

 

Last Update: 7 January, 2010