The Muskegon Community College Sustainability Task Force successfully lobbied to have Busch Wastewatcher quad-bin recycling stations installed at five campus locations: Cyber Café, Student Union, Collegiate Hall, Stevenson Center lobby, and Gerber Lounge.
The MCC Maintenance Department purchased one station with an accompanying dolly as a trial run. Private funds were subsequently raised for the other four quads, including a generous donation from the MCC Student Government. Each of the four bin stations accepts clean paper/cardboard, plastic/glass/metal, compost, and waste. The five were installed on Nov. 15 in conjunction with America Recycles Day.
Employees and students have embraced the concept and the positive effect on the environment has been significant. MCC waste hauler, Waste Management, states the impact to MCC to be:
- 832 yards recycled
- 20.8 tons recycled
- 70 cubic yards of landfill airspace saved
- 212 mature trees saved
- 123,760 gallons of water saved
- 106, 212 kilowatt hours of electricity saved
The Sustainability Task Force hopes to secure 30 quad-bins in all and some dollies to transport them to temporary events. The group is seeking a Keep America Beautiful Grant for the recycling bins.
“Recycling saves natural resources and the energy required to harvest natural resources,” explained Darlene DeHudy, who co-chairs the Sustainability Task Force with Stan Dean. “Recycling allows valuable materials to be reused.”
Interested individuals can submit their “green” ideas for MCC to sustainability@muskegoncc.edu.