Recycling at Clark

Recycling at Clark has come a long way since 1990, when two students began the recycling program by placing collection bins for paper in residence halls and offices. Now, sixteen years later, the recycling program at Clark is still operated primarily by students, but has expanded to include many other materials as well as assistance from Physical Plant staff, including a recycling coordinator.

An academic focus on the environment has long been a Clark tradition, but a dedication to the environment runs deeply through the University's operations as well. Use the links on these pages to explore environmental initiatives currently taking place at Clark.

The students have returned and recycling is in full swing!

Click here to see the building schedule.  If you need a special pickup, please call Dave Schmidt at (508) 793-7601.

News!

Year-end Move Out: Donate your items for reuse!

Students!  As you move out of housing for the summer break and identify USEABLE items that you no longer want, please donate them to Big Brother Big Sister.  Starting Friday, May 2nd, green donation boxes will be available in the residence halls to accept your stuff.  What exactly are we accepting?  Read over the flyer attached to the box or view it here.  The program has changed since last year, so be sure to mind the new list. 

Big Brother Big Sister (BBBS) will pickup these items and deliver them to Savers thrift shops.  Through a long-standing relationship with Savers, BBBS will enjoy all the proceeds from your donations. 

For more information, please visit these web pages:  Savers: www.savers.com  Big Brother Big Sister: www.bbbsmb.org

Sustainable University Class (EN 103) Final Report

This final report is a collaborative effort detailing the work of 21 undergraduate students at Clark University enrolled in EN 103: The Sustainable University in the fall of 2007. This course explored both the theory and practice of sustainability and sustainable development by examining the role of the university in promoting a transition toward sustainability. In addition to reading and writing about the challenges of sustainability and the role of the university in promoting sustainable practices in society, the students in this course have engaged directly with the challenges associated with promoting sustainable behavior and fostering institutional and social change through team projects right here on the Clark campus. This final report is a culmination and summary of the seven team projects that students developed this semester.

Click here to view the report from 2007.

And click here to view the recycling infrastructure team’s excel spreadsheet of the campus inventory they conducted of recycling bins which details location, labeling, and proximity to trash bins of paper and container receptacles (This is an Appendix attachment to the 2007 Final Report).

And click here to view the report from the class in 2006.     

Need a quick refresher on acceptable materials for recycling? Click on the links below for printable guidelines:

Paper Recycling - gray or blue bins
Container Recycling - yellow bins

Why Recycle?

Many people know that recycling is good for the environment, but did you know that…

• Recycling preserves natural resources and supplies valuable raw materials to industry.
• Recycling prevents emissions of many greenhouse gases and water pollutants, and saves energy.
• Recycling reduces our reliance on landfills and incinerators as primary methods of disposal, resulting in a longer life expectancy for our current landfills and reducing the need to open new landfills.
• Recycling saves money that would be spent on disposal costs by reducing the amount of trash we need to throw out every day.
• Recycling helps the economy, supporting more than 19,000 jobs in Massachusetts alone.

Fun Recycling Facts:

• In 1999, recycling and composting activities prevented about 64 million tons of material from ending up in landfills and incinerators. Today, this country recycles 28% of its waste, a rate that has almost doubled during the past 15 years. (US EPA)
• While recycling has grown in general, recycling of specific materials has grown even more drastically: 40% of all plastic soft drink bottles, 55% of all aluminum beer and soft drink cans, 57% of all steel packaging, and 52% of all major appliances are now recycled. (US EPA)
• The U.S. recovery rate for paper and paperboard has made nearly steady progress during recent years, rising from 33.5% in 1990 to just above 48% in 2002. Recovery rates for key grades such as newspaper and old corrugated cardboard containers (OCC) stand even higher at 71% and 74%, respectively, in 2002. (American Forest & Paper Association)
• Steel cans, including food, paint, and aerosol cans, were recycled at a rage of 58% in 2001. That year, the steel industry recycled more than 18 billion steel cans into new products - a rate of about 200 cans for every person with internet access in the US. (Steel Recycling Institute)
• A glass container is 100% recyclable. An old glass container can be made into a new glass container again and again and again. (Glass Packaging Institute)
• In 2002, 31.1% of plastic soft drink bottles were recycled (American Plastics Council).
• Over 1.5 billion pounds of post-consumer plastic bottles were recycled during 1999, accounting for 22 percent (by weight) of all plastic bottles produced in the United States. (American Plastics Council)