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February 16, 2010, Volume 56, No. 22

RecycleMania

RecycleMania is well underway, and Penn’s Green Campus Partnership is reaching out to you with our weekly update regarding the competition and the initiatives being taken by the University community. Get in the game and check out our measured results plus standings for the 2010 competition. Spread the word about upcoming events and learn about new sustainability programs. 

Thank you for being a partner in our collaborative efforts to increase our recycling and minimize our waste on campus.  We are looking forward to reaching our 30% recycling rate target!

Standings

Through the first two weeks of the competition, Penn has been striving to achieve a recycling rate of30%!

To see where Penn stands among its Ivy Plus, City Six, and Pennsylvania peers, visit www.upenn.edu/sustainability/recyclemania.html#rmstandings

 Visit www.recyclemania.org to view the complete national standings.

Upcoming Events

School of Medicine Recycling Fair

Tuesday, February 16, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Biomedical Research Building II Lobby

University departments and featured vendors will showcase new recycling programs, resources, and green products available to the Penn community.

Trash Talk Panel Discussion

Wednesday, February 17, noon-1 p.m.; Penn Bookstore

Learn more about waste reduction and recycling initiatives at Penn at Trash Talk, a panel discussion with key players in both the city and campus recycling processes, moderated by Dan Garofalo, Penn’s Environmental Sustainability Coordinator. Panelists include:

Clarena Tolson, Philadelphia Streets Commissioner

Shannon Detweiler, Blue Mountain Recycling, the recycling facility used by Penn

JoAnn Murphy, Director of Purchasing, Penn Purchasing Services

Laurie Cousart, Director of Penn Dining, Business Services Department

Ken Ogawa, Executive Director of Operations and Maintenance, Facilities and Real Estate Services

Amy Phillips, Senior IT Project Leader, Penn Information & Systems Computing

Dan Sanchez, SEAS’10, Director of Housing, Sustainability and Facilities, Penn’s Undergraduate Assembly

Get Involved

Bring your own bottle and get your fill: Various campus retail locations will reward those who reduce their waste throughout RecycleMania by offering discounts for bringing your own mug, cup, or bottle to use:

RecycleMania Mondays @ Au Bon Pain— get a free coffee when you bring your own mug to Au Bon Pain on Mondays throughout the competition.

Accenture & Houston Market—Bon Appétit at Penn Dining will offer a free coffee or fountain drink at Accenture and Houston Market from 2-5 p.m. on Mondays and Fridays throughout RecycleMania.

RecycleMania Poster and Video Contests

Do you have an idea to help encourage waste reduction and recycling practices at Penn?  Put your time and talent to good green use... Enter the RecycleMania Poster or Video contests!

Design a poster that encourages Penn students, faculty, and staff to reduce their waste and recycle on campus. Create a short (30-60 second) commercial or educational video.  Develop your own creative catch phrases and images to encourage others to help Penn reach its goal for a 30% recycling rate during RecycleMania or its goal for a 40% recycling rate by 2014. Contests are open to all Penn students, faculty, and staff. Group projects may be submitted, but prizes will not be adjusted to accommodate all members within winning groups.  For more details, visit the RecycleMania website

Bookstore’s New Green Threads

The Penn Bookstore is now offering a new line of sustainable clothing called S.O.5. which features a variety of t-shirts and sweatshirts, all made from organic or recycled cotton or bamboo fabrics.  The organic cotton used in making the shirts goes through a process in which the fields remain chemical-free for about three years. This ‘transitional cotton’ can be certified as organic as long as no chemicals are used for the material. Scraps of cotton clothing are then collected, shredded and mixed with virgin cotton to stabilize the fabric and create recycled yarn, which is knitted into new garments. Cuttings from approximately 70 t-shirts are used to make 1 new tee. The process keeps scraps out of the landfills and sorts fabric cuttings by color. Recycled fabrics use a fraction of the dye compared to new fabrics that require color to be added to them.

The S.O.5. line also features select products made from bamboo, a sustainable fiber that can grow at a rate of up to 3 feet per day.  S.O.5. ensures that its suppliers do not use slash and burn harvesting techniques to extract bamboo and do not taint water in the bamboo extraction process.  In addition, the clothing uses chemical-free ink and is manufactured in factories using wind power.  Each garment has a collection of specially designed labels that correspond to an ecological campaign with which the S.O.5 initiative is involved. The company donates 5 percent of the garment cost to one of its campaigns. For more information on the product line, visit the Penn Bookstore or go to: www.so5initiative.com/about.html.

Stay Informed

 The February issue of the Penn Green Campus Partnership e-newsletter, the Red & Blue On College Green, is now available online. Visit the Green Campus Partnership website to subscribe and read about the latest sustainability initiatives underway at Penn.

To view the February issue, visit www.upenn.edu/sustainability/news/feb10.html

To subscribe and check out the archives, visit: www.upenn.edu/sustainability/rnbocg.html

—Daniel K. Garofalo,
Environmental Sustainability Coordinator

 

Almanac - February 16, 2010, Volume 56, No. 22