Waste Diversion
New Mexico State University placed fifth in the 2012 RecycleMania Grand Champion Competition! Congratulations Aggies!
RecycleMania
NMSU has participated in the RecycleMania competition since 2009 with over a hundred other universities across the United States and Canada. RecycleMania takes place over an 8-week period each spring.Participating universities report the amount of recycling and trash collected each week and are then ranked based upon the per capita diversion rate. Here is a list of our yearly ranking
in the Grand Champion Competition with each year’s cumulative diversion rate:
- 2010 – 2nd place – 69.05%
- 2011 – 5th place – 66.87%
- 2012 – 5th place – 78.66%
The Office of Sustainability encourages recycling on campus by hosting events aimed at educating the campus community about proper recycling procedures and waste reduction techniques, working with student housing to integrate recycling into their everyday lives, and collaborating with several student organizations such as the Environmental Science Student Organization (ESSO), who has hosted the kick-off event for RecycleMania since 2010.
Waste Reduction
The Office of Sustainability is currently working to reduce paper consumption university-wide by encouraging faculty and staff to turn their default printer settings to double-sided or, when printer default settings are not available, to print on the reverse side of previously printed paper whenever possible, and use PDF’s instead of printing. Here is a list of measures being taken at NMSU to reduce paper consumption:
- Starting in the spring of 2012, the Las Cruces campus stopped printing paper versions of the course schedule, saving both time and resources. Since fall 2006, the most up-to-date course schedule has been available online at http://www.nmsu.edu/course/ and through my.nmsu.edu.
- Financial Systems Administration (FSA) has taken the initiative to develop an internal policy that printer settings be defaulted to print double-sided on printers with this capability.
- Aggie Print has a new way to print that makes double-sided printing easier than ever. Check out the new kiosks located in Pete’s Place, Corbett 1st floor, Jacobs 205, and Zuhl Library. To print simply use one of ICT’s computer stations and select WEPA color or WEPA black and white, slide your NMSU ID card at the kiosk and print out your documents. Double sided printing is available along with printing from your jump drive. Check out the new stations! Questions: 575-646-2031. Student Technology, an Investment in Your Future!
By encouraging the campus community to not print unless necessary or to print double-sided whenever possible, NMSU has greatly reduced its purchased paper. For example, NMSU saved about $26,880 in paper costs from 2010 to 2011, demonstrating a decrease in overall paper consumption.
Aggie Recycling
NMSU has developed a recycling program to comply with The State of New Mexico's mandate for all institutions of higher education to divert 25 percent of their waste. Aggie Recycling is an integrated solid waste management program focused on recycling, reduction, and improved handling of campus-generated solid wastes.
The Aggie Recycling website lists all recyclable materials at NMSU, with the exception of those sites around campus which are now managed through a local vendor Southwest Disposal (listed below).
NMSU Housing and Residential Life Recycling Program
New Mexico State University contracted Southwest Disposal Corporation, under the parent company Waste Connections Inc., to institute co-mingled recycling (all recyclable materials can be placed together and are sorted later) in student and family housing. Here is a list of the different phases for co-mingled recycling programs and their estimated date of completion:
- Tom Fort and Sutherland - 2011
- Vista Del Monte, Cervantes Village, Chamisa Hall, and Greek Complex - 2011
- Cole Village - 2012
- Rhodes Garrett Hall, Monagle Hall, Garcia Hall, and Piñon Hall – August 2012
Hazardous Waste
The Office of Environmental, Health and Safety (EH&S) is responsible for facilitating University safety and to reduce environmental pollution by implementing programs that serve the students, employees and clients within the state.
EH&S office picks up, for free, any hazardous materials on campus. They contract with a number of different EPA-permitted companies that have been pre-qualified through an extensive purchasing review (such as Clean Harbors, Stericycle, and Veolia).
Las Cruces Residential Recycling Program
Starting in the spring of 2011, the City of Las Cruces adopted a city-wide recycling program. Friedman Recycling Company manages the city recycling program. To find information on what you can recycle in the city, including pick up times and locations, please visit the Friedman website.