Summer School: Going Hard, Going Green

This spring has been a productive time for Ambassadors at Howard University. We have made great strides toward going green!

First off, we established an Office of Sustainability that supports our green efforts. Then we worked closely with our recycling hauler and Office of Residence Life to help further our recycling program. 13,000 bins were dispensed to students living in the dorms to help facilitate recycling, with each resident receiving two bins: one bin for bottles and cans, and the other for paper. The bins were distributed along with more than 300 posters and other educational materials, helping to increase our diversion rate.

During Recyclemania, a 10-week competition among universities nationwide, we measured our diversion rate and compared it to last year's. The average diversion rate for 2010 was 14 percent, whereas the average diversion rate for 2011 was 22 percent! We recovered 111,640 pounds of materials during Recyclemania, or 8.65 pounds of material per person across the campus.

Though much effort has been made to advance our recycling program there have also been other accomplishments. Howard University celebrated Earth Day in a grand fashion. We planted thousands of plants across campus and began our organic garden. These successes have helped increase the momentum of green efforts on campus.

Howard University has accomplished a great deal this semester, but there are still more steps to take. There are 400 new recycle bins to be deployed on campus. There will be collections on each floor of every dorm to help increase participation of students living on campus in recycling. We are also making attempts to bring green transportation on campus by adding a charging station for electric vehicles and more bicycle accessibility.

So what does all that add up to? Howard University is working hard toward going green!