Recycling

What Goucher’s accomplished

All of the buildings on campus contain sets of three containers that collect waste, paper, and cans/bottles. The containers are brown, green, and red, and are clearly labeled. The waste container is emptied daily, while the two recycling containers are emptied as needed. Blue totes are also used for paper recycling in several academic buildings and offices.

Abitibi Consolidated Corporation has been recycling Goucher's paper since January 2009.

These containers are found in all campus buildings.

These containers are found outside throughout campus.

The President’s Office, a student club, and Facilities Management Services have teamed up to place a special emphasis on recycling in the residence halls. The collaboration has provided properly marked containers in all campus buildings and several recycling containers on the college grounds. 

FMS painter Nick Cefalu painted all residence hall trash rooms to easily distinguish between the recycling and landfill trash areas. The recycling section of each trash room was painted lime green with a large sign labeled "Recycling." The section for regular trash was painted harvest orange and labeled "Landfill Waste."

Walls in the residence hall trash rooms.

Other recycling efforts at Goucher College include:

• Compact fluorescent light bulbs -- A recycling container for CFLs is located in Heubeck Hall in the lobby between the office of Community Living and Public Safety.
• Fluorescent tubes -- Goucher College uses a device that crushes these tubes and captures the mercury and other gases through a filtration process.
• Motor oil -- An outside agency picks up motor oil waste and blends and recycles it.
• Tires -- Tires are recycled to make mulch for playgrounds.
• Paints/solvents/cleaning agents -- An outside agency picks up these materials and blends and recycles them.
• Metals -- An outside agency picks up the waste metal and recycles it. 

Where Goucher started

In 1991, there was no recycling program at Goucher College. Facilities Management Services (FMS) initiated a recycling effort, but without support from others, the program was less than successful, and the effort struggled.

In the mid-1990s, working with the student club Environmental Concerns Organization (ECO), FMS was able to place containers around campus, set up centralized trash rooms, embark on educational initiatives, and begin tracking the refuse on campus. The student group also created "Green Teams" to oversee recycling in the residence halls.

Goucher College has continued to place a high priority on recycling, but a successful program requires students, faculty, and staff to change their habits and commit to participating in reducing and reusing resources.