The End is Near

It’s the end of the semester and time to pack up and go home! Therefore, we are all doing a lot more cleaning and moving than we want to. There are plenty of different ways to reduce, reuse and recycle during your moving time.

Always keep Good Will in mind. There is a Good Will located on Main Street right by Kroger in Bowling Green. Here you can take all of your belongings that you no longer have a use for. Good Will accepts all of your household items, clothes, movies, books among much more. By utilizing Good Will, you are allowing people to reuse your old items that would otherwise be in a landfill taking up space.

Rent a moving truck, or use a large car. If you have a small car, like me, borrow a vehicle with more space. This is going to cut down on the amount of times you are driving around dropping off loads of your belongings. It only makes sense to use a large vehicle when moving, but I have found myself not taking advantage of them without realizing. This idea is more than just cutting down on your work effort, but also gas emissions.

While moving out, lay out multiple labeled garbage bags. You can label them for things like trash, glass, cans and cardboard, for example. This will make it way easier for you and your roommates to recycle. It may even get your roommates who do not recycle involved. Then once you have your full bags, drop them off at the recycling stations outside of the resident halls or at the Bowling Green Recycling Center.

As Always,
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

BGSU Encourages Students to Think Green

Professors around the world are encouraging their students to think “green.” Here at BGSU, there are multiple classes you can take to learn about the environment. Aside from just environmental studies classes, going green is incorporated into class discussion, projects and group organizations.

In an Interior design class here at BGSU, students were asked to create their own stores. The catch is that everything used to decorate the store had to be eco-friendly. Everything right down to the tile on the floors had to be made out recycled materials. This task was much more expensive and difficult to accomplish a few students from the class admitted. However, the students got a good learning experience out of it. They learned that the demand for companies to want to turn eco-friendly is increasing. They also learned that there are a lot of great ways to make a room “green.”

BGSU also has a group of students involved in “Friday Night Lights.” This group collectively goes around to campus buildings every Friday to power down the lights. If you think about all the hallways and bathrooms not used on the weekends across campus, you will realize there is a lot of waste. This small task leads to saving energy and money for the university. This project did not officially begin until fall 2010, but has been successful since.

Keep yourself optimistic to “green” projects; you never know when you may be asked to complete one!

As Always,
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Congrats Grad!

For those of you planning to go to college in the fall, make your dorm room eco-friendly. There are a lot of products out there that are good on the environment.

If you are looking for a new backpack, the Voltaic Solar Panel backpack is one to check out. It has solar panels on the outside sewn into the bag that produces around 15 watts of power. With the amount of wattage it makes, it can fully charge your laptop. It comes with all of the cords that you will need to hook it up to various small appliances. This way just by walking to class, you are charging your electronics!

They can be pricey, but if you are looking for a “green” computer the Mac Book Pro is the way to go. The LED lights do not use the same dangerous materials such as mercury and arsenic and is very energy efficient. Mac has a recycling program, where all of their electronics can be recycled—they will also take other brands as well. The battery is non- removable which reduces the amount of waste in landfills once it is time to get a new computer.

Another great eco-friendly product is Kindle. This is a digital library. It is six inches tall and can go virtually anywhere. You can download books right into the machine. You can also download magazines and newspapers. Kindle offers up to 275,000 books to choose from!
Congrats Grads! Start the next stage of your life a green one.

As Always,
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Bowling Green Goes Green

“Going Green” is touching close to home with many Bowling Green residents and students understanding the importance and taking the action to recycle.

Nowadays, with the threat of the global warming and the green house effect, the idea of going green has hit the media. The people of the Bowling Green area including Bowling Green State University have been contributing.
Everyday people pay a visit to the Bowling Green Recycling Center open 24 hours a day, located on North College Drive.

“I have been recycling here for years,” said Katie Bruning. “I try to make a trip up here once every two weeks and drop off my bottles and cans. I try and recycle because I know it’s the right thing to do.”

At the Bowling Green Recycling Center, you can bring out and sort your aluminum cans, books, cardboard, glass, magazines, newspapers and steel cans. The staff encourages you to clean out all bottles and cans to help make the compacting process quicker. The recycling center also does not accept any plastic bottles without the recycling logo, light bulbs, mirrors, trash or yard waste.

So what is Bowling Green State University’s Campus and students doing about this issue?

There are many designated areas on and off campus for recycling. There are a total of 900 bins and 250 stations located around campus. By visiting the BGSU website you can find a list of all recycling stations. There are also recycling stations in every class building and brown crates in every classroom for convenience.

“I always try and use the recycling places on campus,” said Ainsley Burgos, a Student of BGSU. “But, I know a lot of students who do not really. I think that the University could do a better job of promoting recycling and explaining how important it is.”

Casey Ross, a student of an environmental studies class, in contrast believes that the faculty does try to promote to its students the importance of recycling.

“I personally do not really recycle,” said Casey Ross, a BGSU student. “But, my [environmental studies] professor talks about it a lot though, so I would say that they do try and promote it.”

The goal of BGSU overall is to educate their campus on the issues of recycling and preserve and conserve natural resources. According to the BGSU website, since 1994 their recycling program sold more than $390,000 in recyclable material and saved over $400,000 in landfill fees.

The idea of recycling has affected many. On April, 22 the 40th anniversary of Earth Day was celebrated on BGSU’s campus. Students had the chance to learn more about ways to become involved with helping the environment by talking to different organizations. BGSU also gives you the chance to adopt your own recycling station to become involved. An organized group of people can support the campus efforts by volunteering to manage a station. In return, you are dedicated your own bulletin board at your station.

Bowling Green and its university are working hard on their efforts to become eco-friendly. Students both on and off campus have a variety of options where they can dispose of their recyclables. BGSU is still working towards getting their students educated and involved in their recycling program and has hopes for the future.