For the eighth year in a row, Grand Valley State University has participated in the national RecycleMania competition that pits colleges and universities against each other, all in the name of sustainability. GVSU is one of the seven schools in Michigan that are competing in this year’s 10-week program. We encourage all students, faculty and staff to contribute to the RecycleMania efforts.

Sustainability is one of the university’s main initiatives. It’s something that we have won awards for. Students see this in the Zero-Waste football game program, in campus dining and housing facilities and during RecycleMania. Many students are familiar with the little white cars that proclaim “GVSU recycles!” on the side as they prowl campus, picking up recyclables from various locations on campus.

Campus dining supports this initiative by offering waste-sorting stations for students to properly dispose of their food and drink containers. They also have containers to recycle batteries, office paper, metal and glass items. For example, the use of trays at Fresh Food Company was eliminated to reduce energy, water and detergent usage. This resulted in saving 1,619,000 gallons of water from 2007 to 2008.

During the 2011-2012 school year, GVSU’s recycling efforts have composted and recycled 1,201 pounds of materials, saving them from being sent to the landfill. The university also recycled 42 percent of waste during that same time period.

The biggest inhibitor for the GVSU community in recycling is often a lack of knowledge. Knowing what can and can’t be recycled or composted is never easy. It is tempting to just put all your waste into the landfill trash because it’s easier than sorting through everything and guessing where certain items are supposed to go.

But, it just takes a few seconds longer to sort it through and makes a big difference. While you might not know what goes where, there are often campus dining workers who are willing to help, and some places have signs or pictures to help those who don’t know.

Overall, there’s no doubt that recycling is beneficial to the environment, whether it’s through saving energy or reusing materials. With so many places to put recyclables on campus, it is easy to do your part. This will help the university in its sustainability efforts, the RecycleMania competition and improve the campus as a whole.