New recycling trash cans and bins will greet students returning to campus in January as LC launches campus-wide recycling, the first major initiative of the Year of the Environment.
Thanks to the support of President Kenneth Garren, the Cabinet, and the Natural Resources Committee, headed by Dr. Jamey Pavey, there is now a recycling plan to manage the mounds of mixed paper, plastic bottles, and aluminum cans that are generated daily on a campus with 2,500 students and 620 employees.
Jordan Kicklighter and Curtis Layne, members of the Natural Resources Committee, along with Dr. Pavey, developed the recycling plan. The Cabinet approved the nearly $30,000 expenditure to get started with the necessary bins and containers.
As the spring semester gets under way, every academic building and residence hall will have student, staff, and faculty monitors who will educate occupants and encourage recycling at more than 150 stations.
LC's theme, "A Greener Tomorrow Today," has focused and will continue to focus attention on the need to act now to prevent further degradation of the environment.
Dr. Garren has signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment, a pledge to reverse the actions that lead to global warming. Signatories agree to develop a plan to reduce their use of greenhouse gases.
Dr. Nancy Cowden, associate professor of biology, is leading the task force on LC's climate commitment. To fulfill part of that promise, Lynchburg College is participating in RecycleMania, a yearly competition among colleges and universities to see who can recycle the most in a 10-week period. This year the competition runs from January 27 to April 5 and will require tracking how many tons of materials are recycled each week.
Part of the RecycleMania commitment requires reducing the amount of waste produced so less will need to be recycled. The College is already meeting some of those goals by offering discounts on drinks in reusable mugs and reusing inter-office envelopes.
Another commitment the College made is to purchase equipment and appliances with an Energy Star rating when the price is no more than 10 percent higher than the next lowest bid. The next step in the Climate Commitment is an energy audit, which will show the College what it can do to cut electricity, fuel, and refrigerant use.
RecycleMania is just part of the ongoing commitment that will continue well past this Year of the Environment.