Safety & Sustainability Committee wins campus award, pilots marker recycling

The Libraries Safety & Sustainability Committee has been busy—so busy in fact that they’ve been named sustainable workplace champions.

On March 16, the Libraries received the Sustainable Workplace Certification at the Champion Level from the University Sustainability Office. The committee has been working since last August to obtain this certification, which will help showcase all of the wonderful & innovative ways the Libraries champions sustainability in the workplace, within our community, and as a core value of the university. The certification is also an acknowledgement of the many folks across the Libraries who have worked hard to increase the sustainability of our organization.

Newest among the committee initiatives that have garnered this recognition is the imminent pilot of a dry-erase marker recycling program. Katelan Haynes and Alison Edwards have led the creation of this program that will allow students to recycle markers, pens, pencils, and highlighters instead of throwing them out. Dedicated recycling bins will be located at the Hill and Hunt Libraries Ask Us desks. The program is funded by a Good Ideas Grant.

Staff at the Hunt Library might have noticed that the composting pilot program has expanded. Four of the triple-stream cans now include trash, mixed recycling, and compost. This is in addition to the paper towel compost bins that were placed in all of the bathrooms in 2021. Jordan Booth, Glenn Privette, and Travis Tyo worked on this expansion.

Committee members also tabled at the campuswide Earth Fair on Stafford Commons on April 12, where they gave away over 200 plants and propagation tubes of clippings from their own personal plants from home! Students loved the seed paper care instructions from the Libraries table and showed a lot of interest in upcoming sustainability-themed Makerspace workshops. Dharini Baskaran, Jordan Booth, Alison Edwards, Justin Haynes, and Katelan Haynes also handed out stickers and bookmarks. Big thanks to Anne Burke, Adam Phillips, and Gabriel Israel who helped run the Earth Fair table. 

Congratulations to the committee team on a semester of accomplishment and well-deserved recognition!